Maharashtra drought: Rising Pune Supergiants prefer Visakhapatnam, Mumbai Indians to decide by April 17

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered for shifting of 13 IPL matches from Maharashtra.

New Delhi: Faced with a logistical crisis after the Bombay High Court ordered for shifting of 13 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches out of drought-hit Maharashtra, league chairman Rajeev Shukla met with the officials of two affected franchises of the state on Friday in hope of finding a solution.

After the meeting, Shukla has reportedly said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the organisers of the cash-rich Twenty20 league, have given the franchises four alternative venues in Raipur, Visakhapatnam, Kanpur and Jaipur.

We gave 4 options to both affected Franchise- Raipur, Visakhapatnam, Kanpur and Jaipur:Rajeev Shukla on #IPL matches pic.twitter.com/s4Ih5yj11J — ANI (@ANI_news) April 15, 2016

He however added that the Mumbai Indians will give its reply on April 17 while Rising Pune Supergiants has given Visakhapatnam as its preference, and the same will be conveyed to the IPL Governing Council.

Besides, Shukla also said that another proposal will be presented before Governing Council that Final & Qualifier 1 be shifted to Bengaluru, Qualifier 2 and eliminator to Kolkata.

We'll propose before Governing Council that Final & Q1 be shifted to Bengaluru, Q2 and eliminator to Kolkata: Rajeev Shukla #IPL — ANI (@ANI_news) April 15, 2016

Left with a fortnight's time  to look for new venues for the 13 games scheduled after April 30, Shukla called the representatives of Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants for a meeting in the capital.

"Tomorrow the IPL staff and the two affected franchises Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants have been called for a meeting to discuss the issue of relocation of their matches and we will be hopefully able to come to a solution. We will only know tomorrow evening in Delhi," Shukla told PTI on Thursday.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur is also likely to be present in the meeting.

The Bombay HC ruling owing to the water crisis in the state means that 13 matches, including the final in Mumbai on May 29, cannot be held in Maharashtra.

The order came despite an assurance by the BCCI that IPL franchises of Mumbai and Pune had agreed to contribute Rs. five crore each to CM's drought relief fund.