IPL faces trouble over Lanka tangle

Deccan Herald: The upcoming Indian Premier League Twenty20 matches may see trouble in Tamil Nadu as political parties in the state are bound to object to the presence of Lankan players.

There are 11 Lankan players in the tournament. Chennai will be hosting a total of 10 matches, including two in the play-off. The neighbouring country’s players include  Muthaiah Muralitharan and Thilakaratne Dilshan (Royal Challengers, Bangalore), Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians), Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews (Pune Warriors India), Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera (Sunrise Hyderabad), Nuwan Kulasekara (Chennai Super Kings), Jeevan Mendis (Delhi Daredevils), Sachinthra Senanayake (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Kushal Janith Perera (Rajasthan Royals).

A senior IPL official confided to Deccan Herald on Friday that some IPL matches, especially those to be played in Chennai, may see opposition because of the presence of Lankan players. The IPL 2013 kicks off in Kolkata on 3 April. The last match is scheduled for 26 May.

Tamil Nadu political parties have been protesting over various incidents in the last several weeks both in the state and Delhi, including in Parliament. On Friday, there was anuproar in Parliament over the arrest of Tamil fishermen by the island’s Navy. India summoned the Lankan deputy high commissioner and demanded speedy release of the 53 fishermen.

Besides the arrest of the fishermen, incidents such as a video of alleged killing of Balachandran (son of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran) and the recent visit of Lankan president Mahendra Rajapaksa had witnessed protests by Tamil Nadu political parties. These parties have also asked the Centre to endorse a US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Commission for Human Rights at its 20 March meeting in Geneva condemning war crimes in the country.

The senior official referred to a recent stand taken by the Tamil Nadu government of not hosting Lankan athletes scheduled to take part in the third leg of the Asian athletics championships to be held in Chennai on 16 May. It was eventually shifted to Colombo. The IPL governing council has not discussed the possibility of a similar threat to the matches so far.

Repeated calls made to IPL Chairman and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla did not elicit any response.