Rajasthan-Vidarbha game shifted from Sawai Mansingh Stadium to allow IPL pitch preparation

Jaipur’s premier cricket ground, the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, wouldn’t be hosting the Rajasthan vs Vidarbha Ranji Trophy game starting on Thursday. Instead, the game has been moved to the KL Saini Stadium on the city’s outskirts. In times when the Indian board has emphasised the importance of domestic cricket’s oldest tournament, Jaipur’s main venue has given Ranji a miss as it is being prepared for the IPL that is two months away.
The KL Saini Stadium last hosted a First-Class match in December 2012. The upcoming IPL season begins on March 21.The Sawai Mansingh Stadium hosted all three of Rajasthan’s home games in the first leg this season. The ground also hosted seven Vijay Hazare Trophy group-stage matches recently, the last of them on January 5.
The decision to move Rajasthan’s home match from the SMS was formalised last week after a series of back-and-forth discussions, according to a senior RCA official.
“The state Republic Day celebrations are usually held at the Sawai Mansingh. Since the date clashed with the last day of this Ranji Trophy round, we were planning to move the game to Udaipur or Jodhpur,” the official told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity.
However, the Rajasthan government’s move to shift its Republic Day celebrations for the first time from the state capital to Udaipur put the RCA in a fix.
“We understood that the state-level Republic Day celebrations were moved from Jaipur to Udaipur only a few weeks back. So we decided to move the game back to Sawai Mansingh, but the work for the IPL had begun then,” said the official.
Despite the first IPL 2025 game at the venue more than two months away, the ground staff have prioritised the T20 league over domestic First-Class fixtures. According to the BCCI domestic calendar, an U-23 Colonel CK NayuduTrophy game initially slotted for the venue next month has also been moved out to the KL Saini Stadium.
“We were left with no choice but to move the game to KL Saini because the grass-cutting work had begun at SMS,” the official said.
Dravid visit intensifies stadium prep
Pitch preparation work intensified on Wednesday with Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid visiting the stadium to assess the conditions before holding a brief chat with the curator. The latter informed local reporters that he would be readying up to four of the nine pitches at the venue depending on the IPL schedule.
Multiple curators at IPL-based venues have confirmed to The Indian Express that time needed for pitch preparation for the March-May tournament generally varies from two weeks to one-and-a-half months depending on the extent of usage of the ground during the domestic season. A well-rested pitch is learnt to be game-ready within a month.
As many as four IPL venues – in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad – will host at least one Ranji game in the last two league stage rounds over the next fortnight.
Both Rajasthan and Vidarbha trained for their upcoming fixture at the RCA Academy of the SMS facility on Wednesday, nine kilometres away from the match venue. “We do not want to comment on the change of the ground. The host association decides where the team will train and play the match and we are fine as long as we are training properly,” a Vidarbha team official said on the eve of the game.

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