'Hard to provide security' for IPL: Shinde

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who met BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel and its vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Wednesday, said it would be "tough to provide adequate security for Indian Premier League (IPL) matches" during the general elections.

The ministry officials thereafter told the BCCI contingent that it would only be possible to stage IPL after May 11. This was revealed to the board on Thursday.

Shinde's words have left BCCI scrambling to decide the next course of action. Sources said that the first half of the tournament will now have to be staged abroad.

It was revealed that some IPL officials are already in talks with Cricket South Africa to stage IPL matches there. The second edition of IPL in 2009 was taken to South Africa due to the inability of the home ministry to provide security.

Given the government's inability to provide sufficient security during the elections, the ideal situation for BCCI would be to shift it completely out of India to South Africa. But the logistics and the high cost factor are a huge issue.

Even if a part of the tournament is held outside India, teams could lose 40 to 50 per cent of their revenues as they earn a significant amount through gate money.

The BCCI had earlier planned to do away with "home and away matches" and instead have some matches at neutral venues. The board had even identified 22 stadiums for the event. It seems these plans will now have to be shelved.

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Shweta Pandey

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