HC notice on IPL games

Questions the government and BCCI on Jaipur hosting games in times of water shortage

The IPL governing council will look for venues in India and abroad for IPL 10. It is a nightmare this season with all the rescheduling ANURAG THAKUR, BCCI secretary

NEW DELHI: Into the ninth edition of an otherwise very successful and money-churning Indian Premier League, it seems takers for the cricket extravaganza are going down by the day. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now planning to host the next edition of the league abroad.

“A lot of these issues were unforeseen. Assessing the circumstances in various states, the IPL governing council will look for ideal venues in India and abroad for IPL 10. It is a nightmare this season with all the rescheduling and still quite a few venues are uncertain,” Anurag Thakur, BCCI secretary, said.

So far, 13 matches have been moved out of droughthit Maharashtra following a Bombay high court order. The board rescheduled those matches in Bengaluru, Jaipur, Mohali and Visakhapatnam.

But in Bengaluru, and in Jaipur on Thursday, public interest litigations have been filed against holding the matches highlighting a similar drought situation in the states.

The Karnataka high court has dismissed the plea but Jaipur remains uncertain. And to add to that, political turmoil is casting a shadow over matches in Rajkot. The IPL has twice been played outside India due to general elections. In 2009, the league was moved to South Africa while in 2014, it was shifted to the United Arab Emirates for the first 15 days. DAY-NIGHT TEST India will play their first day-night Test in September October. “We will try out the pink Kookaburra ball in the Duleep Trophy. We will have the first day-night match when New Zealand are here later this year,” Thakur said. WAIT FOR COACH It is unlikely that the India senior team will have a long-term coach soon. The board is waiting for a pool of applications to choose from. India are touring West Indies for four Tests soon after the IPL and Ravi Shastri, whose term as team director ended with the World Twenty20, could be back in an interim role.