Mumbai Indians have opted for Jaipur as an alternative venue; Kanpur and Raipur were their other options © BCCI
Mumbai Indians have opted for Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium as their alternative home venue, following a Bombay High Court ruling to shift all IPL matches out of Maharashtra because of a severe state-wide drought. Rising Pune Supergiants, the other franchise based in Maharashtra, had listed Visakhapatnam as their alternative venue. The requests will need to be ratified by the tournament’s governing council.
“We had given Mumbai Indians three options – Jaipur, Kanpur and Raipur. The Mumbai Indians told us that they would like to play their home matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said. “Accordingly, the IPL and IMG officials will be going to Rajasthan tomorrow in order to speak to the state government.”
The BCCI had suspended the Rajasthan Cricket Association in May 2014 after the state association elected Lalit Modi, an expelled administrator, as its president but Shukla stated that the suspension of a state body does not mean suspension of the venue. The Rajasthan team had played their home matches of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 Ranji Trophy at the stadium, under the aegis of the BCCI. The ground has not hosted an IPL match since May 2013 but an ODI and a few Champions League T20 fixtures were held there in September and October 2013.
Shukla, who is also the president of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, has said that the two IPL matches allotted to Kanpur are expected to be held scheduled on May 19 and 21.
“There were some issues regarding the intensity of the floodlights and that has been sorted out,” Shukla said. “Within a couple of days, the concerned people will be coming for an inspection. I am confident that the matches will be held in Kanpur as per schedule.”
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo