IPL 2019: Drought situation in parts of the country likely to add problems for the BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to stage the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at home despite the general elections in the country. They are already running against time with the tournament set to start on March 23 and the schedule is yet to be finalised. The board is still waiting for the Election Commission to announce its schedule but that is not the only issue that the BCCI will have to combat.

The drought situation is looming in Maharashtra already with over 900 villages in the state are announced in the affected regions by the Government. Moreover, with the elections around the corner, the matter could also get a political twist and the fear is being raised in the BCCI circles that the T20 league will get affected. The same situation had arisen in 2016 when Mumbai and Pune franchises had to do away with a few of their home matches.

BCCI to go away from home and away format

Keeping the nine-phase general elections in mind, the BCCI also decided to do away with the home and away format this time around. “The idea, therefore, was to keep neutral venues in mind and host matches in areas that are not clashing with the elections. Now, it’s also become imperative to understand the drought situation better. Nobody’s going to be surprised if PILs get filed in the courts,” the source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Even Andhra Pradesh is suffering from a similar situation. Last time, the matches were shifted to Visakhapatnam, the port city of Andhra, from Mumbai in 2016 but even that part of the country is an area of concern this year with Chennai also suffering. However, despite the fact that Karnataka is also in the same state, the matches are unlikely to be affected in the state as the KSCA uses treated water from their sewage treatment plant.

“This is election season. With politics at play across the country, given the Lok Sabha polls, nobody here is going to be surprised if the IPL once again becomes the centre of all attention,” the sources added.

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