Wankhede Stadium to host UP-Railways final

The Ranji Trophy one-day tournament finals between Uttar Pradesh and Railways, slated to be held at the K.D Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.

Ratnakar Shetty, Executive Secretary-in-charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that the unavailability of ground in Lucknow was the reason behind shifting the venue of the match.

He said, "The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has written to the Indian Cricket Board that the state government is not releasing the ground for the match. So the match will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium on April 2."

However, cricket lovers in Kanpur vented their ire at the state government by burning the effigies of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister and RK Chaudhary, the Sports Minister at Civil Lines area near the Green Park stadium today. Fans and cricketers criticised the government's decision, saying it was against the interests of the game in state.