MCA approaches Supreme Court over shifting of IPL matches
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has approached the Supreme Court of India to give itself one final chance to carry on with the execution of the Indian Premier League matches in the drought-ridden state of Maharashtra. The MCA hosts the IPL matches at the Wankhede Stadium which is the home of the defending champions, Mumbai Indians.
In response to a PIL that was filed earlier, the Bombay High Court had ordered the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift all the Indian Premier League matches out of the Indian state which were already scheduled to take place after 1 May 2016.
The aforementioned order of the Bombay High Court implies that the Wankhede will host its final match of this year's Indian Premier League on 28 April 2016 as the defending champions, the Mumbai Indians will be taking on the two-time IPL champions, the Kolkata Knight Riders in the city of dreams.
A total of 13 games have been affected due to the ongoing Maharashtra drought issue including the group stage matches that were supposed to be held in Pune and Nagpur.
According to a number of reports, the Supreme Court will be hearing the Mumbai Cricket Association's appeal on Monday.
Appearing for the MCA, senior advocate and former Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court, “We (Mumbai Cricket Association) are not against people of Maharashtra and have full sympathy with them.”
BCCI still clueless about where to shift several IPL matches
Prior to the start of the tournament, the Mohali-based franchise, the Kings XI Punjab had chosen Nagpur as its second home. However, the doomed Bombay High Court order has stripped Nagpur off all the three IPL matches that it was supposed to host.
With all of the Nagpur's matches being shifted to Dharamsala, it was decided that Jaipur would host three of the Mumbai Indians’ matches with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Rising Pune Supergiants likely to play the remaining of their group stage matches in Visakhapatnam.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar and Pepsi set to combat Maharashtra drought issue
However, a number of complications have arisen regarding Jaipur hosting the relocated Indian Premier League matches as the state of Rajasthan is also reeling under a severe drought at the moment.
A number of cricketers and coaches including Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid have previously expressed their disappointment with the adjustment of the Indian Premier League schedule due to the ongoing drought situation.