The BCCI, on Friday, picked Bengaluru as the venue for the IPL final and offered four alternate home options to the Mumbai Indians and the Rising Pune Supergiants, after all IPL matches post 30th April were shifted out of drought hit Maharashtra, following the order of the Bombay High Court.
Bengaluru will also be hosting the first qualifier in addition to the final. The second qualifier and the eliminator have been proposed to be moved to Kolkata. These decisions were taken in a meeting between IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla and representatives of the Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians.
In the same meeting, the two franchises were asked to pick an alternate home base from Raipur, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam and Kanpur. While Pune opted for Visakhapatnam, Mumbai Indians has asked for two days’ time to choose their new base. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said-
“
We will propose before the Governing Council that Final and Qualifier 1 be shifted to Bengaluru, while Qualifier 2
and Eliminator to Kolkata.
”
When quizzed about the Mumbai and Pune franchise’s offer to donate Rs. 5 crore to the Chief Minister’s relief fund, Shukla said that it would be according to the written directive of the High Court.
Shukla also stated that the BCCI will plead before the HC to allow the May 1 clash between Mumbai and Pune to go ahead in Pune as the home franchise will be playing a game in the city on April 29.
Although the Rajasthan Cricket Association has been banned by the BCCI for factionalism, Shukla said the venue will be available for IPL as the offer to host has come from the state government.
The BCCI had reacted sharply to the Court's order on Wednesday, saying that it would not be easy to change the logistics of such a big tournament.
The BCCI had asserted that it was not using potable water for ground maintenance and offered to supply water to the drought-affected areas. Shukla had gone to the extent of stating that Board could not have done anything more than this.
This sentiment had found support from former captains Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar as well, both of whom felt that IPL and cricket had become soft targets to generate controversies.