Reports | IPL franchises keeping eye on situation in Kolkata following protests

The Citizenship Amendment Act (ACC) has taken the country by storm as protests spread from the North-Eastern part of the country to other states including West Bengal. With the IPL auction scheduled on December 19, rising unrest in Kolkata and the state has become a cause of concern for the franchises.

In the meantime, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and ruling party TMC organizing a huge rally in protest of the bill has led to a rise in violence in the city. A senior official of one of the franchises shared that they would be keeping a close eye on the developments.

"Not too worried, but yes, an eye has to be kept on developments. With the auction on Thursday and rallies on in the state from today, we need to keep monitoring the situation for sure," the official said, reported Times of India.

In fact, Internet services in Malda, Murshidabad, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and parts of South 24 Parganas districts had to be suspended on Sunday after protests turned violent.

An official of another franchise pointed out that officials will have to stay in the city for three days starting from Tuesday and hence the situation should be observed. He also conceded that there have been no official requests sent to the BCCI to tighten security at the venue of the auction, with a 'wait-and-watch' policy being followed.

"See, while most of the owners might reach on December 18 and leave on December 19 post the auction, the rest of the team members will be returning only the day after and will be reaching the city by tomorrow. In that case, the situation will obviously need constant observation.

"We are keeping an eye, but no, we haven't sent any official request to tighten security at the venue of the auction," the official said.

A senior member of another franchise said that the teams have complete faith in the planning of the BCCI.

"To be honest, yes, we are keeping an eye on the protests and all. But we are also pretty confident that the board will take all necessary action to ensure that there is no problem in the organisation of the auction. Some of our guys will reach the city tomorrow itself and there has been no word from BCCI on any change or anything," the official said.