COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials yesterday raised concerns over the safety of its national players who are to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament next month following the recent spate of attacks against Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Players’ Association (SLCPA) has written to its parent organisation, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), to assess the safety of its players during the IPL, starting April 3, and to determine a course of action that will ensure the cricketers’ safety, Xinhua reports.
The IPL matches will be played in several key Indian cities, including Chennai, where tensions against Sri Lankans have risen after two Buddhist monks and several Sri Lankan tourists were assaulted by Tamil groups.
Ten IPL matches are scheduled to be played in Chennai.
SLCPA chairman Ken de Alwis said that the association was awaiting a response from FICA.
Following a rise in the number of incidents of violent assaults against Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan government on Tuesday requested all its nationals to exercise caution when undertaking visits to Tamil Nadu. In the event of urgent visits, Sri Lankan nationals were requested by the government to keep the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission in Chennai informed well in advance.
Sri Lanka’s national airline also announced Tuesday that it was halving the number of flights to south India following the incidents. Sri Lankan Airlines said it had observed a drop in traffic between Chennai and Colombo due to recent developments in Tamil Nadu, hence it decided to reduce frequency of flights to Chennai from 28 to 14 per week.
Meanwhile, Raipur and Ranchi will make debuts as IPL host cities in the 2013 edition, according to the tournament schedule.
Raipur will act as a second home venue for Delhi Daredevils, while Ranchi will host two of Kolkata Knight Riders’ matches.
The schedule also confirmed that the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur will host all of Rajasthan Royals’ home games.
Earlier, the BCCI had relocated Royals’ games to Ahmedabad and Rajkot, following a prolonged standoff between the Rajasthan Cricket Association and the Rajasthan state sports council.
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