Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi announced that he will forego his share in the IPL profits for the drought victims in India.
"As President of the #RCA who are stakeholders in the @IPL Profits we will forego our share for drought victims #IPL4DroughtVictims. We at #rca commit to be the first to contribute to drought victims," Modi said in a series of tweets.
He also took to Instagram, putting the onus on IPL saying, "IPL should donate its 1000 crore plus profit for this Year to help victims of drought. This is the need of the hour. @iplt20 needs a much needed change of image as do mandarins in @bcci.tv #IPLbats4people."
The Bombay High Court had earlier pulled up the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) and asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the venue of the IPL matches from drought-hit areas of the state.
A PIL was filed in the High Court stating that about 66 lakh litres of water was spent on maintaining pitches at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai and Sahara stadium in Pune during the 2013 edition of IPL.
Meanwhile, the IPL 2016 opener between defending champions Mumbai Indians and brand new team Rising Pune Super Giants was carried out without a hitch at Wankhede.