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As per Cricbuzz, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has directed the state associations hosting Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to not let out their grounds for any games ahead of the tournament. Interestingly, they have also instructed them to now allow even the IPL franchises to use the grounds.
The move behind the motive is to keep the IPL grounds in immaculate condition and avoid them being used for tournaments involving celebrities and former cricketers.
“We would like to clarify the following regarding the usage of grounds before the IPL,” a BCCI mail, sent on Friday to all the IPL centres, said, and continued:
1. The main square and the outfield may be used for the Ranji Trophy knockout matches, should any be scheduled at your venue.
2. Under no circumstances, the main square and outfield be used for any local matches, legends league, celebrity cricket or provided to the IPL franchises for practice sessions.
Notably, the state associations of Mumbai, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, Guwahati (for RR games) and Dharamsala (for Punjab games) have received letters regarding the decision.
The venues like Kolkata, Pune, Rajkot, and Nagpur are currently hosting the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, with only Kolkata likely to host the IPL 2025 games. However, some key venues like Mumbai and Bengaluru were likely to host the semi-final and final games of the tournament. With this directive, non-IPL venues may be preferred by BCCI as a host to these games.
The development is a serious issue for the franchises, who organize a pre-season camp a few weeks prior to the start of the season. The 2025 edition of the cash-rich league is set to start from March 21, and it will be interesting to see from which date the teams will be allowed to begin their camp.
Moreover, other than Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, most of the grounds don’t have adequate grounds, which can be used for practice by IPL franchises.
Sairaj Bahutule to join RR ahead of IPL 2025
Former Indian spinner Sairaj Bahutule is likely to join Rajasthan Royals (RR) as a spin bowling coach for IPL 2025. Interestingly, he served the same role for the franchise from the 2018-21 season. He then worked as a bowling coach at National Cricket Academy (NCA).
“The discussions are ongoing, and I’m close to finalising my involvement with the franchise. There are still a few details to be worked out, but I’m excited to be realigning with the Royals,” Bahutule told Cricbuzz.
Bahutule played two Tests and eight ODIs for India and scalped a total of five wickets. His last competitive appearance came for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy 2012-13.
In the last few years, Sairaj Bahutule has been the bowling coach of the Indian team on a few occasions, primarily to fill the gaps of staff, who have been given rest after a long tour/tournament.
Here’s what he said on joining RR head coach Rahul Dravid in IPL 2025:
“I’m also thrilled to be reuniting with Rahul. He was the one who introduced me to the Indian team during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in 2023 when I served as the spin bowling coach. I was also part of his coaching staff in Sri Lanka, so I’m looking forward to our reunion.”
