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IPL moves out of Chennai

It's good that they have now understood the situation and decided to move out , senior state minister D. Jayakumar said.

Chennai: Snakes and shoes, and a government unwilling to guarantee security for its citizens wanting to witness the game of their obsessive passion, have forced the much-awaited IPL matches out of Chennai.

“We have been telling them from the very beginning that there could be problems having the matches here considering the prevailing (Cauvery) situation. They said it would be difficult to shift the venue as all arrangements (for the Chennai calendar) have already been finalised and it was too late now to make changes. It’s good that they have now understood the situation and decided to move out”, senior state minister D. Jayakumar said.

He had stated earlier this week that the government was duty-bound to provide security if the BCCI/IPL decided to go ahead with Chennai as venue.

Notwithstanding the huge crowd of protesters at the MAC cricket stadium in Chepauk on Tuesday, the CSK-KKR match saw near-full capacity in the stadium.
Five members of the Naam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK) were arrested by police guarding the stands when they threw chappals into the ground and raised slogans swaying their red flag with its ‘tiger’ insignia.

If the IPL organisers still harboured some hopes that the Chennai police would protect their matches, that must have quickly evaporated the moment news flashed early Wednesday that Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) chief T. Velmurugan has threatened to let loose snakes in the stadium if the April 20 match is held as per schedule.

The snakes would be non-venomous as the intention was not to harm the players, spectators or the police, but only to scare them off the stadium, said the man, already in the news for leading violent agitations on various issues.
Apart from Pune, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Rajkot were selected as stand-by venues.

Asked why Pune was selected, an IPL source said that captain Dhoni knows the conditions well and logistically it made sense to have Pune as the new venue instead of Visakhapatnam.

“There are only a few direct flights available from Vizag. If the team has to travel to Indore, then they had to reach Indore via Delhi. Pune has better connectivity, so it was decided that CSK shift base to Pune,” the source said. Meanwhile, an official from the Maharashtra Cricket Association said they are ready to host matches.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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