MCA to lift Shah Rukh Khan ban to get IPL 7 final

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has taken a major step in an attempt to 'bring back' the June 1 IPL final from Bangalore to the Wankhede Stadium.
It has agreed to all the 14 conditions put forward by the IPL Governing Council for staging the final. It includes allowing Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan, who was banned from the Wankhede for five years after a skirmish with the MCA officials back in 2012, entry into the stadium, though only for the summit clash.
One of the conditions put forth by IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal to MCA, was to allow entry to all franchise owners and officials for hosting the finals.
"We had received a letter from Biswal on May 13, and there were as many as 14 conditions. We have decided to accept all the conditions because the MCA president (Sharad Pawar) desired that the match should be played in Mumbai only. We hope that our decision will change the heart of the governing council and the match will be played in Mumbai," MCA vice-president Ravi Savant said.
The MCA is hoping that former Mumbai players Sunil Gavaskar (currently BCCI president-IPL affairs) and Ravi Shastri (IPL GC member & commentator) too would bat for the association as it bids to get the final back at the Wankhede.
Savant, however, made it clear that the lifting of SRK's ban was only temporary.
"They have given us letter for only this game (IPL final). All the conditions are for this game," he said.
The ball, in this tussle, is now in the IPL GC's court.
"We have not decided anything on the final. We are awaiting MCA's reply. Once we get their letter, we will have an IPL GC meeting and a final call will be taken after that," Gavaskar said.
Disappointed by the IPL GC's decision to shift the final without assigning any specific reasons, Pawar had written a protest letter to the Board.
Biswal, in his reply, mentioned the conditions which the MCA had to adhere to in order to stage the IPL final.
Some of those were: Allot 85 % parking slots to IPL, no ambush marketing at the stadium, no bursting of fire crackers post 10 pm, limited number of accreditations to MCA members, and access to the bulk of the hospitality box passes.