The IPL 2024 final will take place at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, also known as Chepauk Stadium, in Chennai. A BCCI official stated that the final will be held at the home ground of the defending champions.

Last year, the Super Kings secured their fifth title, matching a record, by defeating Gujarat Titans at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Ravindra Jadeja’s boundary and subsequent six powered the Yellow Army to a six-wicket victory.

A BCCI official informed PTI regarding the venue for the 2024 final:

“The IPL Governing Council has followed the tradition of holding the opening game and final at the home venue of last year’s defending champions — in this case Chennai Super Kings.”

Furthermore, it is reported that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator matches of the lucrative league. Besides the final, the Chepauk Stadium is expected to host Qualifier 2 as well.

The defending champions kick off their IPL 2024 journey with a convincing victory

Meanwhile, the Super Kings have commenced their 2024 season with a commanding six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match held in Chennai.

Opting to bat first, Royal Challengers posted a challenging total of 173 runs, propelled by dynamic performances from Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat.

The Super Kings began their chase strongly, with newcomer Rachin Ravindra making a notable impact with a quickfire 37 runs off 15 balls, including three sixes. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Daryl Mitchell, and Ajinkya Rahane also contributed with some impressive shots.

However, Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube remained unbeaten till the end to guide the Super Kings to victory. Gaikwad’s team will now encounter Gujarat Titans on Tuesday in Chennai.

In the subsequent matches of the IPL 2024 season, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders emerged victorious against Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad, respectively.

On Sunday, Lucknow Super Giants will kick off their 2024 campaign against Rajasthan Royals, while the Mumbai Indians will square off against the Titans.

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England all-rounder Ben Stokes slammed the MA Chidambaram Stadium’s pitches so far in the IPL and called them thrash. Chepauk has been slow since the beginning of the Indian Premier League and several unfortunate games got played on those slow turners. The Chepauk pitch has already hosted nine games so gar and the game between SRH and Delhi Capitals on Sunday is the only remaining game at this venue.

Stokes IPL journey was curtailed by a left-thumb injury. After sustaining a fracture, he was ruled out of the IPL and went back to England to undergo surgery. Stokes was representing Rajasthan Royals. After being with Rising Pune Supergiants for a season in 2017, Stokes joined hands with RR in 2018. Since then, he has been a stalwart. RR are trying to fix up the puzzle as their defeats continue this season. RR will meet Kolkata Knight Riders this evening at Wankhede Stadium. Yesterday, Mumbai could manage 131 runs for 6 wickets. Punjab Kings chased down the total fashionably.

“Hope the wickets don’t get worse as the IPL gets deeper into the tournament.160/170 minimum not scraping to 130/140 cause the wickets are trash,” Stokes tweeted after Mumbai Indians defeat to Punjab Kings.

Ben Stokes Criticises Chepauk Pitch

Hope the wickets don’t get worse as the @IPL gets deeper into the tournament..160/170 minimum not scraping to 130/140 cause the wickets are trash..

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 23, 2021

Also Read: IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals- Predicted XI, PrizePicks Fantasy Tips, Top Fantasy Picks

Chasing at MA Chidambaram has been a nightmare for the teams. Only twice the opening teams have posted 170+ scores. Royal Challengers Bangalore amassed 204 against Kolkata Knight Riders, and KKR invited Sunrisers Hyderabad to chase 188 runs in their season opener.

The BCCI had selected six neutral venues to host the IPL matches. Mumbai and Chennai are hosting the opening games of the IPL. Apart from these two cities, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata will host the rest of the matches, with Ahmedabad hosting the playoffs and the final. Till now, Chennai has delivered nine games.

Chennai will host the last game of the season on Sunday where Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Delhi Capitals. Then the carnival will shift to Ahmedabad and New Delhi. The ending matches of the group stage will be hosted by Kolkata and Bangalore.

Also Read: Shubman Gill Or Sunil Narine As KKR Opener? Former Indian Cricketer Reveals

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Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has come down hard on the criticism related to the pitch at the Chepauk for the second Test. India scored 329 in their first innings with Rohit Sharma getting a massive hundred. In reply, England were bowled out for 134 in the first innings courtesy of Ravichandran Ashwin’s 29th fifer. Meanwhile, former England skipper Michael Vaughan has heavily criticised the track after 15 wickets fell on day 2. England lost 10 wickets, while India lost five on the same day. 

Taking to Twitter, Michael Vaughan in a series of tweets spoke about the behaviour of the Chennai pitch. “It’s entertaining cricket as things are happening all the time but let’s be honest this Pitch is a shocker. Not making any excuses as India have been better but this isn’t a Test Match 5 day prepared Pitch … #INDvENG” said the former England skipper.

It’s entertaining cricket as things are happening all the time but let’s be honest this Pitch is a shocker .. Not making any excuses as India have been better but this isn’t a Test Match 5 day prepared Pitch … #INDvENG

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 14, 2021

Vaughan got support from former Australian batsman Mark Waugh who also complained of the uneven nature of the Chepauk track. 

I’m all for a good contest between bat and ball in test match cricket but this pitch in Chennai is unacceptable at test match level. You can’t have the ball going through the top of the surface on day 1 from the main part of the pitch” wrote MarKWaugh in support of Vaughan. 

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar came out with a staunch response to the comments from the two former cricketers. Speaking on Star Sports before the start of play on Day 3, Gavaskar indulged in a debate with former England cricketer Mark Butcher on the pitch and said that India batsman Rohit Sharma has proven the pitch is not unplayable.

Also Read: Shane Warne, Graeme Swann Reacts To Michael Vaughan’s Criticism Of Chennai Pitch

Sunil Gavaskar Slams Michael Vaughan, Mark Waugh

“Some of them are saying that – but you have a seeming pitch in England. Australia get dismissed for 46 – the ball keeps seeming all throughout. No one talks about that. It’s always about Indian pitches, and when the ball starts to turn, people pose a problem,” Gavaskar said.

The former Indian skipper further kept the example of Rohit Sharma’s innings to prove that the pitch is not that bad for batting. Rohit played efficiently in the first innings and swept the England bowlers to good effect as well. 

“Yes. One or two who we know who don’t like India, who don’t like England, so they always be having a go at India and England, so that’s fine. We ignore them because we know the double standards. But basically, we saw with Rohit Sharma’s innings, if pitch was impossible, nobody would have scored 330,” Gavaskar said.

Meanwhile, India have extended their lead to beyond 350 with four wickets still left in their second innings. Virat Kohli & R Ashwin have put on a 50-run stand before the lunch break.

Also Read: Watch: Ben Foakes Gets Rohit Sharma & Rishabh Pant Stumped As India Lose Three Early Wickets

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Crowds gathered in numbers in front of the Chepauk stadium for tickets on Thursday for the second India-England Test match starting from Saturday. The historic stadium will welcome fans back into the stands for the first time since COVID disrupted the cricket calendar. The BCCI earlier requested the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to allow 50 percent of the crowd capacity for the second Test in Chennai. England beat India by 227 runs in the first Test and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

Although all ticket sales took place online, fans were required to pick their physical tickets from the stadium. The crowds have waited patiently for the game of cricket to be back in India and the stadiums to be reopened for over a year now. Previously the Syed Mushtaq Ali kickstarted domestic cricket in India. The tournament was held behind closed doors. The India-England series kickstarted international cricket in India after the COVID break.

“The TNCA had announced that tickets booked online for the second Test could be redeemed from February 11. However, they seem to have misunderstood it and came to the stadium resulting in crowds and confusion,” the TNCA official told PTI.

Also Read: Axar Patel Fit For 2nd Test; Shahbaz Nadeem Likely To Be Dropped

Fans React On Ticket Sale At Chepauk Stadium

The official also said the issuing of tickets would be smoother on Friday. Meanwhile, a random Twitter user posted about the sale of tickets outside the Chepauk stadium.

“Insane crowd at Chepauk for the retrieval of physical tickets. Friends standing in queue for the last couple of hours & the crowd hasn’t moved an inch,” a Twitter user posted.

Amid the excitement of buying tickets for the second Test match at the Chepauk, the social distancing norms were ignored by the fans. However, the city police said that the situation was well handled by the policemen.

Meanwhile, while there was excitement for many fans, some spoke about the chaos and confusion around the stadium, while buying the tickets.

“Had a worst day in my life time, standing more than 6 hours in the que to redemption of my tickets for #INDvsENG test at #chepauk, returned with empty hands along with leg pain and frustration,” a twitter user posted.

Official sources say that the spectators can redeem their tickets on Friday and Saturday too.

Also Read: Chepauk To Open Three Stands For Second India-England Test

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The Chepauk pitch at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai produced a rank turner for the first Test between India and England. With the second Test starting in two day’s time, the pitch curators are busy preparing a different kind of track for even contest between bat and ball. In all likeliness, the pitch will have a fair amount of pace bounce and carry in the second Test as compared to the first Test.

A Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) functionary informed that pitch No. 5 is likely to be used for the second Test starting on Saturday. Pitch No. 2 had red soil topping. The top layer of pitch No. 5 is made of clay soil or black soil.

A veteran Indian pitch curator explained the difference between the use of red soil and black soil in the preparation of a pitch.

“Bonding strength of red soil particles is more high-strung than its black or clay counterpart, the reason why red soil disintegrates faster. Pitches with red soil toppings deteriorate quicker,” he said to Indian Express.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Reacts After England Humble India In The 1st Test At Chennai

Chepauk Pitch To Have More Bounce: Pitch Curator

According to a member of the ground staff, the surface is expected to have more bounce and carry. So initially at least, pacers might get more purchase from the deck, while spinners could enjoy the bounce. But in all likelihood, it’s not going to be a rank turner.

Taking together, the Indian and the English spinners picked up more wickets than the pacers together from both sides. The spinners picked up 24 wickets in the first Test as compared to 16 by the pacers.

Pitches have been a point of debate in India whenever the team loses in recent times. Similarly, now that the Indian team has lost the first Test of a crucial series at home, the pitch has again become the talking point.

Meanwhile, former BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh described the pitch for the first Test as “an excellent Test match wicket that would have been even better (from the bowlers’ perspective) with a bit more grass on it”.

Also Read: 3 Changes Team India Should Make In The 2nd Test

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The historic Chepauk stadium will open three of its stands for the second Test match between India and England at this iconic venue. Chennai was assigned to host the first two Tests of the four-match series with first game underway already. England play India between February 5 to March 28 for four Tests, five T20Is, and three ODIs. Chennai will host the first two Tests. The final two Tests will be played at the newly built stadium in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad will host the T20I series followed by Pune for the ODI series.

Chepauk To Open Three Stands For Second Test

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association had previously said no to BCCI’s request to allow fans for the first two Test matches. However, now the TNCA Secretary S Ramasamy has confirmed about the entry of fans after getting an official mail from the BCCI. It will open three of its stands I, J, and K which will accommodate the fans for the second Test. Those three stands at the Chepauk were sealed after the 2011 World Cup due to reconstruction. 

Also Read: India vs England 2021 Series To Be Played At Three Venues

The England and Wales Cricket Board too was firm on their stand to not allow cricket fans inside the stadium for the Test matches at Chepauk as they did in the series against Sri Lanka in Galle. However, now they too have taken a U-Turn on their decision and said that they would cooperate with the hosts.

“We were always comfortable (having crowds). We want to support BCCI’s plans and protocols. We are collaborating and we are waiting to hear from them,” the spokesman said on Sunday.

As far as the first Test is concerned, England was finally bowled out for 578 in the first hour of day 3 after which India are inching closer to 300 runs in their first innings. India were 73 for four at one stage before Rishabh Pant (91) and Cheteshwar Pujara (73) adding a 119 run-stand for the fifth wicket and bringing back India into the contest. 

Also Read: BCCI Likely To Allow Crowds In Second India-England Test in Chennai

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