||| IPL 2016: Discussion Thread ||| - Page 5

Virus - I will tell Vrish - he handles IPL threads 😃

RCB has the best batting line up...Kohli,ABD,Watson,Gayle...

It was just the first match.. Everyone will get on track in coming games but I have my doubts on DD.

Originally posted by: BeingBlunt

Suggestion to Vrish/Meli:

Copy and paste the smileys from here to intro post for people to use. 😃

IPL SMILEYS

Hey guys, the points table has been updated on pg 1. For convenience, here it is here

IPL 2016 newsApril 13, 2016

Court moves IPL out of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in May

Bal: IPL just a soft target

All IPL 2016 matches scheduled in Maharashtra after April 30 must be moved out of the state, the Bombay High Court has ruled. The ruling came after a Public Interest Litigation questioned the hosting of matches in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur due to a severe drought in Maharashtra.

The ruling affects 13 matches, including the final which was to be held in Mumbai on May 29. Pune will miss out on six matches, including the Eliminator and Qualifier 2, while no games will be held in Nagpur. The state was earlier scheduled to host 20 matches.

Last week, the court had sought an explanation from the BCCI and the three state associations on why water should be "wasted" on hosting the games when the state faced one of its worst ever droughts. The court later allowedthe opening match to be held as scheduled in Mumbai on April 9, and asked the Maharashtra state government and Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to respond on plans to tackle the issue of water shortage. On Tuesday, the court orally asked the BCCI if matches could be shifted out of Pune.

In its defence, the BCCI had stated that less water was used to prepare the ground for an IPL game when compared to an international fixture. The board also stated that it intended to use treated sewage water for ground preparation in Mumbai and Pune. Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants, the franchises based in Mumbai and Pune, had proposed to contribute INR 5 crore to the Maharashtra chief minister's drought relief fund and supply 40 lakh litres of water to drought-hit areas at their own cost.

While the BCCI is mulling its next move, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla has admitted that moving games out of Maharashtra is a logistical problem for the board. He also pointed out that no objections of this kind were raised when Mumbai and Nagpur hosted World T20 matches last month.

"Organising the IPL is a gigantic work. It's not easy. All preparations had been done, completed," Shukla said. "Now shifting the matches will be a problem. So far, we have not got the written order, after we get that, we will study the order and work out an alternative plan. We always respect the court. We need to talk to other franchises. We will have to work it out.

"The key problem is water for farmers, which we are trying to find a solution to. We were willing to give water, contribute to the CM's fund. Now shifting matches will be a problem. If matches are to be shifted, where will they be moved, how will they be moved, all these issues are involved. And this comes after nobody raised an issue about the 24 World T20 matches that were held recently.

"Nobody raised these issues for six months. Whatever was required, we were willing to do. In fact, I would like to point out that a lot many other sports and cultural events are going on in Maharashtra, which also use water and they should also help."

Anurag Thakur, the BCCI secretary, said there was an attempt to create negativity over issues: "We are not using drinking water, we have said that we will use treated sewage water only. How many swimming pools of five-star hotels have been shut? Have people stopped watering their lawns? There is an attempt to create negativity on every issue these days. IPL was to use 0.00038% of water so that shows the requirement was not much."

Ness Wadia, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab franchise, welcomed the order. Kings XI were scheduled to play three home matches in Nagpur between May 7 and 15, apart from games in Mumbai and Pune on May 13 and 21, respectively. "I'm very happy with this, we welcome this decision," he said.

IPL 2016 newsApril 14, 2016

Linking drought to IPL will trivialise crisis - Dravid

Rahul Dravid on the drought situation: "If not having IPL will solve the problem, then we should stop playing cricket." Delhi Daredevils

Reacting to the Bombay High Court's order to shift 13 IPL matches out of drought-hit Maharashtra, former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid have said that cricket should not be mixed with such a serious issue. The High Court, on Wednesday, ordered that all IPL matches after April 30 should be shifted out of Maharashtra owing to the acute water crisis in the state.

"It's a serious issue and the fact that so many people are dying because of shortage of water is serious but linking it to IPL will trivialise it," Dravid toldNDTV. "How can a drought be as important as cricket? If not having IPL will solve the problem, then we should stop playing cricket."

Echoing the sentiment, Gavaskar said the sport is being singled out to rake up controversies.

"What do you think has been happening for the last 9-10 years? It's always something or the other cropping up before or during the IPL," Gavaskar toldNDTV. "Whether it's a soft target or not, yes it is a soft target."

Gavaskar said while the water crisis, which has led to farmer suicides, is a serious issue, it cannot be mixed with cricket.

"Farmer's lives have to be absolute priority. You cannot trifle with people who put bread on our table. That cannot be trivialised at all," he said. "Is water being saved by not having IPL matches? If yes, how can it be done? The BCCI did guarantee that they will not use potable water. Franchises and BCCI, I believe, also offered to make a donation to the chief minister's relief fund. Those were significant and good gestures."

Gavaskar said that if water conservation could be done by stopping cricket matches, then other activities should also be checked.

"Why only cricket has been singled out? What about gardening, swimming? You can go on and on. Only cricket has been singled out," he said. "Not just in this, even when there is something political, cricket is singled out. When it comes to having ties with some country or not, it's cricket that is talked about."

Gavaskar said water conservation requires a long-term plan: "This is something that has to be done over a period of time. In the last two-three years, there has been less rain in Maharashtra and the country. The national government and state governments have to think of how how to solve this problem. Everywhere there is this problem and with global warming, this will only increase.

"A policy has to be evolved so that we know that in case there is less rain, what is to be done. It can't be done by not just playing some matches in the IPL."

IPL 2016 newsApril 14, 2016

Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Kanpur shortlisted as alternative IPL venues

Mumbai Indians will not play a home match in Mumbai in May following a Bombay High Court ruling BCCI

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla has said that Visakhapatnam, Raipur and Kanpur are frontrunners as alternative home venues for Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants after a Bombay High Court ruling ordered matches after April 30 to be moved out of Maharashtra due to a state-wide drought. He also said that Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata were in contention to host the three playoff games - the Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and final - that were scheduled to be played in Pune and Mumbai.

Shukla confirmed he would meet with representatives from both franchises in Delhi on April 15 to formulate a revised arrangement, which will later be ratified by the IPL governing council. He said, however, that the Maharashtra Cricket Association and the IPL will request the Bombay High Court for permission to host the match between Supergiants and Mumbai in Pune on May 1 due to difficulties involved in shifting equipment.

"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," Shukla told reporters in Rajkot. "That's a technical problem, so we are going to appeal tomorrow to the Bombay High Court if they can allow one more match in Pune. The other matches will be shifted. We decided yesterday that we are not going for an appeal. We will be implementing the verdict given by the court."

Kings XI Punjab were scheduled to play three home matches in Nagpur in May and Shukla has said the franchise will now shift those games to Mohali and Dharamsala.

He also suggested that Jaipur was a prospective venue if either Mumbai or Supergiants expressed interest. "The RCA can't host the match but the government has approached us to host the match," Shukla said. "We will put Jaipur also in the option. Let's see how the franchises react. We can host [matches without RCA being there]. There is a sports council of the government."

Shukla revealed that Supergiants had requested the use of Eden Gardens as a home venue, but he said the rules of the IPL may not allow that.

"Technically, it's very difficult because it is the designated home ground of a franchise," he said. "So far two matches of Gujarat Lions are slotted in Kanpur. If these franchises they want Kanpur then those two matches will be played in Rajkot."

While Chennai and Ranchi were ruled out, Shukla said he was waiting to hear from the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association on Indore's availability to host games. "The MPCA secretary is checking with the authorities because the Kumbh Mela is going on and all the security forces have been deployed there," he said.

Shukla said the biggest logistical challenge they faced was movement of equipment: "It is a gigantic exercise. Then all those things - the look and feel of stadium, ticketing, maintenance of ground and wickets - will have to be looked into as well."

The court's ruling came after a Public Interest Litigation questioned the hosting of matches in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, and the order affects 13 games in the tournament. Mumbai was scheduled to host four matches after April 30, including the tournament final on May 29. Pune will miss out on six matches, including the Eliminator and Qualifier 2, while Nagpur will not host any fixtures this season.

While hearing the PIL filed by Loksatta Movement, a Hyderabad-based NGO, last week, the court sought an explanation from the BCCI and the three state associations on why water should be "wasted" on hosting games when the state faced one of its worst ever droughts. In the next hearing, the courtallowed the opening match to be held as scheduled in Mumbai on April 9, but, earlier this week, orally asked the BCCI if matches could be shifted out of Pune.

In its defence, the BCCI had stated that less water was used to prepare the ground for an IPL game when compared to an international fixture. The board also stated that it intended to use treated sewage water for ground preparation in Mumbai and Pune. Mumbai and Supergiants had also proposed to contribute INR 5 crore to the Maharashtra chief minister's drought relief fund and supply 40 lakh litres of water to drought-hit areas at their own cost.

On the above grounds debate, I wonder why they don't start w/ the state/region in question before trying other wild ideas, like making Eden Gardens a alternate home of RPS. I like RPS, but in a KKR v RPS, how is it the home ground of the latter?

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

Also, I didn't get why Ranchi was ruled out - MSD's hometown would be a natural home to RPS. Makes more sense than Eden.

Drought. Jharkhand is also suffering from drought. I also thought the same, why they are not shifting to ranchi. But then i heard news about drought due to extreme heat. Its too hot here. I am sure they couldn't even shift it here if Bihar had an international stadium.