Is IPL soft target for terror?

The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has now been shifted to South Africa, was the prime target of a large scale terrorist, targeting a host of foreign cricket players, a leading American think-tank Stratfor said today.

"Intelligence of India apparatus is thought to have warned the central government of a flood of specific pressure against both Indian and foreign cricket players," said Stratfor. Based on the intelligence information it has from various sources, Stratfor in its latest analysis said it received indications early on from Indian security sources that the IPL tournament was a prime target for another large-scale Islamist militant operation following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"Warnings of specific threats against the players came from the governments of the states hosting matches, including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.” Given that these two states respectively are home to the information technology hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore both of which have a heavy foreign presence and are where multinational corporations doing business in India are concentrated, these states are at a particularly high risk of attack," it said.

The IPL drama

The next term of the Indian Premier League will be held outside India, the BCCI announced in Mumbai on Sunday. The BCCI's determination to shift the tournament out of the country came at an emergency meeting comprising its office-bearers and the eight franchise owners in Mumbai.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said the timing of the matches would remain the same, with the first game scheduled at 1600 IST and next at 2000, no matter which venue they will be played at. Basically, it would mean that the Twenty20 tournament, scheduled to be held between April 10 and May 24, would essentially become a television event.

South Africa and England are being talked about as possible venues but the BCCI is still in talks with other boards to finalize the venue. "We will let you know about the new venue in two or three days," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said. The BCCI made it clear that the last straw that made them decide to shift the venue out of India was the last-minute reversal of stand by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments, which had earlier given clearance for the tournament.

"The BCCI is not in a position to either play a truncated IPL or cancel the second edition of the IPL. It is a matter of great regret that, in the prevailing atmosphere, where the government is expressing concern for providing security to the IPL matches, the BCCI is left with no other option but to conduct the Indian Premier League in another country," the BCCI said in a statement.