No general public will be allowed during Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 match against Sikkim at the Jaipuria College ground, Jaipur, on Saturday (January 3).
India ODI captain Shubman Gill and T20I
star Arshdeep Singh are set to ply their trade for their home state in the game to fulfill the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s diktat that all international stars need to feature in a few games of the premier domestic 50-over competition.
They’ll also play another match against Goa. While that will be held at the bigger KL Saini Stadium, which has facilities for spectators, the one against Sikkim at the local college ground will be played behind closed doors. According to PTI, it’s because of a lack of seating arrangements for spectators and some security concerns.
This was earlier done for Virat Kohli’s matches in the VHT at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence for the same reasons. Rohit Sharma and Mumbai’s games, meanwhile, were played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, which is the biggest ground in Jaipur and also hosts IPL matches.
“The students and staff are allowed inside the premises but there will be enough security arrangements including private bouncers being deployed. In any case, no outsiders will be allowed inside the college premises. The scheduling was done much earlier. Only because of Rohit Sharma and anticipating the response, Mumbai’s match had to be shifted to Sawai Man Singh Stadium from Anantam,” the news agency cited a BCCI source as saying.
Both Gill and Arshdeep are supposed to arrive from their respective destinations by late Friday night.
“Both Gill and Arshdeep were supposed to arrive by evening but prevailing weather condition in North India has led to delay of their flights. Weather permitting, they will arrive by late night,” the quoted source added.
Like most matches in the VHT, this game will be recorded but not broadcast or aired on streaming platforms.
After these two games, Gill will join India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series, where he’ll captain.
