MUMBAI: Hearing on a public interest litigation regarding the matches being held in Maharashtra despite of the drought condition prevailing in the state, the Bombay High court has eventually ruled that the IPL matches must be shifted from the state after April 30.
As a result, a total of 13 IPL matches which includes the eliminator and the 2nd Qualifier match, will get affected. With the ruling, even the final match of the IPL scheduled to be held in Mumbai will have to be shifted.
During the hearing of the case in the Bombay High court, the Board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) pleaded that the IPL matches cannot be shifted from Maharashtra as the brand values of the defending champions Mumbai and the new IPL team RPS takes a hit.
However, the court did not entertain the BCCI’s plea underlining that the interests of the public is more important to them than any other entertaining events in the current scenario.
With this the BCCI has been left with only one option i.e, to shift the matches from Maharashtra. The two home franchises Pune and Mumbai said that they have invested in their home grounds and added that the shifting of stadia will definitely affect their financial interests.
However, the BCCI was reluctant to shift the matches from Maharashtra. The cricket board has once again approached the high court and offered to use only the sewage water to maintain the pitches in Pune and Maharashtra. According to the BCCI, it has entered into an agreement with the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) to provide sewage water from its plant for the pitches. In addition the BCCI had also offered to donate 40 lakhs liters of water to the villages nearby if the court allowed for the matches to be held as per the schedule.
The HC has directed the BCCI to provide supportive documents regarding its agreement with the RWITC and kept its decision in reserve.
