Rising Pune Supergiants’ home game against Mumbai Indians will be held as scheduled © BCCI
The IPL 2016 match between Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians will be held as scheduled on May 1 in Pune, the Bombay High Court ruled on Wednesday. Last week, the court had ruled that all matches after April 30 should be moved out of Maharashtra due to a severe state-wide drought, but it has permitted the match on May 1 to go ahead after a plea from the BCCI.
The board had sought permission from the court citing logistical difficulties due to a short turnaround time from the match between Supergiants and Gujarat Lions on April 29. “Since there is a match on April 29 and May 1 in Pune – back-to-back matches – it will be almost impossible to move the equipment in 24 hours to another venue,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla had said last week.
The High Court’s ruling to move matches out of Maharashtra in May has affected 13 matches, including the final, which was scheduled to be held in Mumbai on May 29. The ruling also forced Mumbai and Supergiants, the two Maharashtra-based franchises, to look for alternative home venues for the remainder of the season. While Supergiants have listed Visakhapatnam as their alternative venue, Mumbai have picked Jaipur. Bangalore is likely to host the final, while Kolkata is in line to stage the Eliminator and the second Qualifier, both originally scheduled in Pune. The alternative venues need to be ratified by the IPL governing council.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo