AHMEDABAD: The
Gujarat Cricket Association
on Tuesday denied reports that
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
cancelled their only practice session before the
IPL 2024
Eliminator against the Rajasthan Royals due to security reasons.
On Monday night, the Gujarat Police arrested four men from the Ahmedabad airport on suspicion of terror activities. The police reportedly recovered arms, suspicious videos and text messages after searching the hideout of the four accused.
The development prompted a report in a Bengali daily that the RCB cancelled their practice session after a probable threat to
Virat Kohli
's security, but the GCA claimed that RCB took this step due to prevailing heatwave in the city.
"There was no terror threat. We had made provision for both the Rajasthan Royals and RCB to practice at the Gujarat College ground. RCB were supposed to practice from 2 to 5pm, before they changed it to 3-6pm, as the light is good till 6.30pm in the summer in Ahmedabad. However, the Rajasthan Royals practiced from 3.30 to 6.30pm at the Gujarat College ground with their full squad.
RCB skipped their practice session due to the prevailing heat wave in the city. We had told RCB that they can use the indoor practice facility there, or at the Indoor facility at the Narendra Modi Stadium. However, RCB didn't want to practice because of the heatwave," Anil Patel, secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association, told TOI.
"We had taken special permission from the collector's office (for the trams to practice at the college ground), because the college ground comes under its control. The collector had given special permission for both the teams to practice at the college ground. However, as I said earlier, the RCB avoided the practice session because of the heatwave," Patel added.
There was speculation that the pre-match press conference before the Eliminator was canned due to the terror threat, but a BCCI source rubbished it. "There was never a presser scheduled before this match, as there was already the first qualifier (between Kolkata Knight Riders and Hyderabad Sunrisers) being played yesterday at the Narendra Modi Stadium here. In any case, it's not unusual for teams to not have practice sessions at this late stage of the tournament, as they try and remain fresh for the match after a long campaign," he said.
Scripting a comeback for the ages, RCB have won six matches on the bounce to storm into the playoffs. They beat Chennai Super Kings in their last match to knock the five-time champions out of the tournament.
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