Bombay High Court allows BCCI to hold one more match in Maharashtra

The Bombay High Court today allowed one more IPL match to be played in the state after BCCI’s Ratnakar Shetty moved an application seeking permission for the May 1 match scheduled to be in Pune..Senior Counsel, Rafiq Dada appeared for the BCCI, said that since the Pune team (Rising Pune Supergiants) had a match against the Gujrat Lions on April 29, it would be “practically impossible” to shift the May 1 match between Pune and Mumbai to another state..“Making all the arrangements in one single day will be practically impossible.”.Justices VM Kanade and MS Karnik recorded in their order that this was an exception and hence the application is being allowed. The earlier order will now be modified. .Ankita Verma, counsel for the petitioners submitted that the water storage levels in dams in the state have detoriorated further, falling to 19% (4% less from earlier figure). She also said that BCCI should have shown more sensitivity towards the water crisis in the state and shifted the April 29 match instead..As it is, there is an international practice in place to have a two day gap between matches. .The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered relocation of all 13 matches that were scheduled to be held after April 30, observing that,.“Shifting these matches alone won’t solve the problem but it can be a beginning as the water used for these pitches can be diverted to the effected areas.”