Sri Lankan cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month are looking for early clarity on when and where the lucrative tournament would be held, an official said on Sunday.

“They (players) will be looking to the final outcome (on where this would be held). Hosting in South Africa or England would not be an issue at all from the security point of view. The grand game is just three weeks away and there should be some clarity soon,” manager of most of the Sri Lankan cricketers Charlie Austin told IANS.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the second edition of the Twenty20 IPL will be played outside the country because state governments have expressed their inability to provide security to the tournament as it clashes with the general elections.

Austin conceded that unlike in India, there would be a less crowd watching the match directly and it would be “an obvious cause for much concern for the sponsors and organisers”.

“The IPL authorities would certainly be aware of the timing of the matches to ensure that they do not lose millions of viewers and fans in the Asian region, where cricket is just more than a game,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s skipper Kumar Sangakkara, his deputy Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando and Ajantha Mendis are some of the key players who have signed three-year contracts with the IPL.
Source – cricketnext.in.com