All padded up and nowhere to go — that’s Calcutta after elections slammed the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) out of the Eden Gardens ballpark on Sunday.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders bemoaned the loss of home advantage, fans cried foul at being robbed of seven matches and bleeding businesses rued a lost opportunity to cash in on the T20 craze after the tournament was shifted to foreign shores.

Jeet Banerjee, an associate in the KKR franchise, called it “a setback” in many ways. “A lot of planning needs to be done now. Not being able to play in front of a home crowd is disappointing but we understand that security is a very big issue,” he said.

From shops stocked with KKR merchandise to hotels that had received bulk bookings for match days, businesses have been hit the hardest by the tournament moving abroad. The Reebok Arena store on Lansdowne Road that SRK inaugurated last year had dedicated an entire floor to KKR merchandise during the IPL’s debut season and was planning to go even bigger this year.

“Reebok had sold KKR merchandise worth approximately Rs 1.25 crore in West Bengal alone last year. We were initially unable to meet the demand. We had expected a windfall this time as well,” said a city-based franchisee of the sportswear brand.

Now, Calcutta’s loss will be some other city’s gain because Reebok is already planning to export the merchandise for which orders have been placed to the countries that host the matches.

At the BC Roy Market near the Maidan, several of the 200-odd shopkeepers who had placed orders for low-priced jerseys with the KKR logo cancelled the contracts after hearing the news of IPL2 moving out of the country. “Jerseys priced between Rs 80 and Rs 150 sold like hot cakes last year. I used to sell at least 300 pieces on match days,” said Mohammed Sirajuddin.

Hasan Sabir, 17, said he made a profit of Rs 1,000 by selling jerseys on each match day last year. “The tournament is now gone and so is my business.”

Hotels and restaurants that were hoping to ride the IPL wave after being swept away by the downturn tide have also been left in the lurch. Debashish Ghosh of Speciality Restaurants, which owns brands like Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, admitted that IPL2 being shifted would affect business.

“We had kept our restaurants open till midnight during the last season. We had some special plans for this season, too. Our overall business won’t be affected that much but we have definitely lost the extra footfall that IPL2 would have brought,” he said.

Anirban Simlai, the executive manager of The Park, said the shift meant losing both money and excitement. “This is unfortunate. Occupancy rates had increased by 30 to 40 per cent at The Park during the tournament last year, which all hotels will miss this time.”

A spokesperson for Hotel Hindusthan International said most star hotels would have been 100 per cent booked at least for two days before and after a match. “So, that’s a direct loss for us.”

The biggest loser, of course, will be the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Joint secretary Arun Mitra said not being able to host the KKR matches was a blow to cricket in Calcutta. “We had promised each CAB member tickets to two matches this time. International matches haven’t been held at the Eden for some time and none is scheduled in the near future.”

The only ones smiling are the multiplex managers. “We were hit by the IPL last year. But with the tournament being shifted out, I think some good films will release early and people will come back to the movies,” said an INOX official.