Gujarat cricket body breaks silence after report alleges ‘security threat’ to Virat Kohli in Ahmedabad

Ahead of the RCB vs RR IPL 2024 Eliminator, there was some scary news that came out of Ahmedabad. A report stated that Royal Challengers Bengaluru had to cancel their only training session before the start of the knockout match due to security concerns. The issue arose over Virat Kohli’s safety, leading RCB to abandon the training session, according to a report in Bengali daily Ananda Bazaar Patrika. RCB were to train at the Gujarat College Ground in Ahmedabad on Tuesday ahead of the Eliminator on Wednesday but were unable to go ahead with the schedule.

According to the ABP report, the Gujarat Police hinted that the main reason behind canceling the practice session and press conference was Virat’s safety. Police also arrested 4 people from Ahmedabad on suspicion of terrorist activity.

Now a report on India Timescited a senior official of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) giving a different version of the incidents that took place.

“There was no terrorist threat. We had planned for both Rajasthan Royals and RCB to practice at the Gujarat College ground. RCB were supposed to practice from 2pm to 5pm before changing it to 3pm to 6pm as the light is good till 6.30pm in summer in Ahmedabad, however, the Rajasthan Royals trained from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm at the Gujarat College ground with their full squad,” said Anil Patel, secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association.

“RCB missed the training session due to the prevailing heatwave in the city. We told RCB that they can use the indoor training facilities there, or the indoor training facilities at the Narendra Modi Stadium. However, RCB did not want to practice for cause of the heat wave.

We had obtained special permission from the revenue department (for the trams to practice on the school grounds) because the school grounds are under their control. The collector gave special permission for both teams to train on the college field. However, as I said earlier, RCB avoided the training session due to the heatwave,” Patel added.

There was also no press before the match and this increased speculation. However, the Times of India report quoted a BCCCI source as saying, “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, Either way, it’s not uncommon for teams to not have training sessions at this late stage of the tournament as they try to stay fresh for the match after a long campaign.”