Kamal Ghorui
JAIPUR: What should be a stable home base for Rajasthan Royals has instead become a source of ongoing uncertainty. The Jaipur-based franchise remains undecided on hosting the majority of its home games at Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Stadium and is awaiting clearance from senior IPL and BCCI officials over unresolved safety, infrastructure and administrative concerns at the venue.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Royals, while in principle agreeing to play matches at SMS Stadium, have written to the IPL chairman, BCCI secretary and the CEO seeking clarification on the status of the Jaipur stadium’s lack of fail-safe measures,” a source said.
The SMS Stadium underwent renovation in 2006 but since then the venue has seen no upgrades, leaving it feeling some-what frozen in time despite its continued use for IPL matches. Concerns persist over whether its infrastructure and safety measures, including evacuation norms and operational readiness, are fully adequate to handle the large crowds expected for modern IPL games. The venue last hosted a T20I on Nov 17, 2021 and it has been over a decade since its last ODI on Oct 16, 2013.It has been learnt that Royals have high-lighted critical lapses in the stadium infrastructure. “From civic work to emergency evacuation, there exists serious issues of public safety and Royals have communicated everything to the RSSC, BCCI and IPL governing council,” the source added.Since June last year, the franchise has repeatedly raised concerns with the RSSC, BCCI and IPL authorities regarding public safety — particularly life safety, structural integrity and statutory compliance — across all engineering and operational areas in accordance with prevailing regulatory codes and standards.With the RCA’s continued defunct status, Royals through its letter to BCCI have requested the governing body for guidance and their approval. The last time the Royals were forced to move their home games out of Jaipur was during the 2014 and 2015 IPL seasons. This was driven by RCA’s notorious governance volatility, internal friction, and leadership deadlocks.RCA in doldrumsThe governance of the RCA has been in a downward spiral, operating without an elected body under a series of ad hoc committees for nearly two years. While the IPL governing council permitted Jaipur to host games in previous years, it issued a stern caveat: if the RCA fails to hold elections, the city will lose its IPL 2026 fixtures.Despite the ultimatum, the RCA remains mired in internal conflict. The leadership vacuum has also stalled the development of the RCA’s own stadium, slated to be the third-largest in the world. The previous regime under Vaibhav Gehlot secured a Rs 100 cr grant from the BCCI in 2023, but construction was abandoned following his resignation and the ad hoc takeover. A dedicated cricket stadium remains the only long-term solution, as the multipurpose SMS Stadium is an outdated property.
