Kolkata Knight Riders' home matches in a fix

Shah Rukh Khan-promoted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has more than one thing to worry about this IPL season. The latest trouble is with the allegedly faulty floodlights at Eden Gardens, where the seven home matches of KKR will be played.

This year, KKR will have to pay Rs 2.5 crore to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for hosting the IPL home matches in Eden Gardens. KKR sources inform that Rs 1 crore will reach Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of CAB, in a day or two.

Sources said a foolproof system at Eden Gardens would require overhauling the four towers at a cost of Rs 4-6 crore. The metal halide lamps at the ground cannot withstand even a minor voltage fluctuation. On the other hand, most stadiums in the world have shifted to more advanced technology, like uninterrupted power supply (UPS) or fluctuation-resistant lights.

“During the first IPL season, too, Eden Gardens twice suffered a complete black-out. This year, CAB says it will not host the matches if proper floodlights are not put in place,” the KKR source said. The only night games scheduled at Eden Gardens right till the 2011 World Cup are the seven IPL matches.

Sources at CAB said that, on its part, the association is spending an additional Rs 34 lakh to get eight generators on lease from a Hyderabad-based company in order to ensure the IPL matches in Eden Gardens take place on time and without any black-outs.

Sources in the power sector informed the total electricity demand during an IPL match in Kolkata is around 1,600 Mw. Eden Gardens requires a little over 3 Mw for the entire stadium. But, there is 300 per cent redundancy because already three power lines of 4 Mw each are built in, each of which can supply the entire stadium.

However, a pass-the-buck game is underway, with reasons offered ranging from voltage fluctuation — implicating CESC’s power supply — to poor tower maintenance, which is the CAB’s responsibility.

Police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti said: “No matches under floodlights would be allowed at Eden Gardens till the faults in the system is corrected.”

With less than three weeks to go before KKR plays its first home match at the Eden Gardens in IPL-III, an interim report submitted by a government probe committee has recommended that it will not be advisable to hold day and night matches without proper certification of the floodlights. In effect, CAB needs to get the entire stadium lighting system, including the floodlights, checked by experts and obtain a “fitness certificate” before they are given the green light to host any day and night match.

During the last December 24 one-day-international (ODI) against Sri Lanka, Eden Gardens went in for a partial black-out after floodlights went off on one of the two towers, which caused the match to be held-up for 25 minutes.

The CESC, which supplies power to the stadium, had maintained all along that there was no power disruption in the area during the ODI.

It was the third instance of a partial black-out at the Eden Gardens.

During the first IPL, floodlights at Eden had tripped twice during KKR’ T20 matches, causing embarrassment all around.