Security Concerns Force Rethink on IPL Schedule

IPL Indian Premier League, chief, Lalit Modi on Friday said that though, the IPL season II would be held in April-May, but it will be after alterations, necessitated by the Lok Sabha elections, are made to the schedules.

“The BCCI office-bearers met some IPL officials and we are extremely thankful and grateful to Home Minister P Chidambaram for clarifying that security will be provided for the IPL Season II,” Modi was quoted as saying.

Modi said the IPL and BCCI were in constant touch with all States, scheduled to host IPL fixtures, over security arrangements and would soon announce the new schedule for the tournament.

Modi assured that the tournament was definitely on and would be played in India, he rejected as speculation media reports suggesting that the tourney might be shifted abroad due to security fears.

He added that dates of Lok Sabha elections will be taken into consideration while deciding the new schedule.

With a long drawn election to accommodate with, the new schedule is likely to be a convolution of dates and venues, especially as the tourney will now be played in eight venues against the original 14 planned by the IPL.

The change in the IPL schedules has brought on by the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday and the onset of general electionsb in the country.

The month long election season which coincided with the earlier IPL schedule would have left states incapable of promising a security cover at match venues as the state security forces and paramilitary battalions would be on election duty.

Though no information was available on the new schedule as of now it is safe to suggest that matches and elections at any venue would be apart from eachother by atleast 48 hours.