Won't Cancel First IPL Match, Says Bombay High Court

Mumbai: The first Indian Premier League or IPL match at Mumbai's Wankhade stadium on Saturday, April 9, will be played as scheduled, said the Bombay High Court, which is hearing a petition against holding matches in the drought-hit state because cricket grounds need lakhs of litres of water to prepare.  

The court said that the petition had been filed too late to cancel the first match and that it will continue hearing in the case on April 12.

But the court also said the water crisis was now an emergency in Maharashtra and "political will" was needed to resolve it.

In biting criticism, the judges said to India's cricket board the BCCI, "It is a question of priority - a game or people... Are you going to maintain gardens and stadiums when people are dying? Is this what you are saying?"

The BCCI had said, "Water is required throughout the year. On match day it is not needed. So why are you against IPL? If you have to be logical then stop watering of gardens and for everything else." It also said that it had allowed a stadium in Latur to "die a natural death".

The board pleaded that it was too late to change the tournament's schedule.  "Now it's just 3 days away. Why this last minute? People have bought tickets. Players are coming in," it said.

IPL, the world's richest cricket tournament is set to begin today with a glitzy opening ceremony in Mumbai. Cricket will begin on Saturday with the Mumbai Indians vs Pune Supergiants match at Wankhede. 19 more matches have been scheduled in three Maharashtra cities - Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

The petitioners have said they will appeal that the other matches not be held in Maharashtra. "This is a commercial event for minting money... Mumbai will run dry in a few months. In Pune people are importing water. In Nagpur people don't have water for sanitation," they argued in court on Thursday.