The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is amidst a lot of controversies regarding the matches being played in Maharashtra due to severe drought conditions in the state.
The Supreme Court rejected the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and Maharashtra Cricket Association’s appeal against the Bombay High Court’s decision. It had ordered them earlier, to shift all their home matches scheduled for May, to an alternate venue outside the state.
"It is better to move out the matches in wake of the drought," the Supreme Court order had stated.
The matter is to be decided on Friday evening in the IPL governing council’s meeting in Delhi. The alternate venues for the Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants are to be decided along with finalising the IPL’s itinerary.
The MCA had previously chosen Jaipur as their alternate venue, but a PIL issued by the Rajasthan High Court, in the wake of drought, has forced Mumbai Indians to choose another venue. The possible alternatives that the council will consider are Dharamsala, Kanpur and Mohali among others.
Nagpur was originally chosen as the second home venue for the three matches of Kings XI Punjab on 7,9 and 15 May. The court allowed only the derby between the Supergiants and Mumbai to be played in the state on 1 May.
Also read: Bombay High Court orders BCCI to shift all matches out of Maharashtra after 30 April
The Rajasthan High Court had earlier asked the state government to give a plan of how the water would be supplied to the stadium and state in the midst of the drought. The court has scheduled the next hearing for 3 May but that might get too late for the BCCI to choose another venue.
Dharamsala, Mohali and Kanpur have been reported in the media, but both the franchise and IPL officials are tight-lipped about backup venues, hence there is no official confirmation yet.
Kings XI had chosen Dharamsala as their second home venue after Nagpur was rejected by the court. They even sent out a Press Release regarding it, although there has been no confirmation from the officials.
However, Mohali is doubtful since the Punjab Cricket Association is not keen on hosting extra matches, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo. Mohali was to host its last match of the season on 25 April, post which it would host an Under-19 zonal camp for six weeks.
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