Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will host Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Eden Gardens on April 8, instead of on April 6 as originally scheduled. The game remains an afternoon game, moving from 3.30pm IST on Sunday to Tuesday. The change was made after a request from Kolkata Police, who said their personnel, who would be needed to police the game, would be occupied elsewhere in the city because of a festival.
The IPL said in a statement. "The decision follows a request from Kolkata Police to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) regarding the deployment of personnel across the city [on April 6] owing to festivities. The authorities have recommended that the game be moved to Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 3.30pm, and the request has been accommodated accordingly. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged."
"I had several rounds of talks with the Kolkata police, and they said they won't be able to provide enough security on that day [April 6]," Snehasish Ganguly, the CAB president, told PTI earlier this month. "If there's no police protection, accommodating and managing a 65,000-strong crowd becomes impossible."
LSG host Mumbai Indians on April 4, and their next game after the KKR match is on April 12, again at home against Gujarat Titans. On either side of the LSG game, KKR play Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens on April 3 and Chennai Super Kings on April 11 in Chennai.
The IPL and/or BCCI moving a game because police personnel are otherwise occupied is not unprecedented. It happened last season too, in Kolkata, incidentally because of the same festival, Ram Navami.