Congress leader Rameshwar Dudi said on Tuesday that IPL matches should not be held in Rajasthan as the drought situation in the state is no different from that in Maharashtra.
Dudi was responding to the state government’s decision to hold three IPL matches at Jaipur’s SMS stadium through the Rajasthan State Sports Council.
“Cricket matches can take place if the situation is favourable. But the drought and water crisis in the state are same as that in Maharashtra, therefore IPL matches should not be held in Rajasthan,” the leader of opposition said.
The government did not do its homework before taking the decision of allowing IPL matches in the state because it lacks own resources and experts, Dudi alleged, adding it is dependent on Rajasthan Cricket Academy (RCA) which has been in controversy.
Earlier in the day, state sports minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar clarified that with this move, the state government aims to promote the sports in state.
“We are not organising IPL matches to earn money. The funds we will get from the BCCI would be spent to develop a cricket ground here,” Khimsar said.
{{/usCountry}}“We are not organising IPL matches to earn money. The funds we will get from the BCCI would be spent to develop a cricket ground here,” Khimsar said.
{{/usCountry}}The Bombay high court had on April 13 asked the BCCI to shift all IPL matches after April 30 from Maharashtra due to acute water crisis in the state. Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur are the three venues in the state scheduled to hold the IPL matches.
Maharashtra - home to Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians - was to host 13 games after April 30, including the final in Mumbai.