Gavaskar supports shifting IPL out of drought-hit Maharashtra

"The issue of drought is one such where many lives are at stake," Gavaskar wrote in Times of India.

"I am no expert on ground and pitch preparation and how much water will be consumed for it, nor do I know whether the water that will be saved if the matches are not played can be used to irrigate the lands that have become dry and parched. What, however, is without any doubt is that it is the farmers of this country that help put our food on the table and if their lives are at stake, then whatever needs to be done must be done to ensure that not even one life is lost,” former India opener wrote.

Gavaskar, who was the interim BCCI president (IPL affairs) during the 2014 IPL season, went on to express his hope about the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doing the right thing in favour of the nation and said that the shifting of matches will be a small price to save the lives of farmers in the state.

"The BCCI… will no doubt do what is in the best interest of the nation. There will certainly be losses to the franchises if the games are moved out of their home grounds but, as happened in 2009 and 2014 when the tournament was moved to South Africa and UAE, the franchises will no doubt get compensated… It is a small price to pay, for the alternative could well be unnecessary loss of lives of those whose hard work gives us our daily roti and dal," Gavaskar wrote.

Gavaskar’s comments come in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in Bombay High Court over the water usage in IPL games. The Court had questioned the water wastage of IPL on Wednesday and the matter will again come up for hearing on April 12, meaning the IPL opener will go ahead as scheduled in Mumbai on Saturday.