Andhra government asks Deccan Chargers to pull out of IPL

The Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Deccan Chargers team not to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament if the inaugural match is not held in Hyderabad as per the original schedule.

Sports Minister K. Venkat Reddy told reporters Wednesday that he had asked Deccan Chargers to pull out of the tournament if the IPL refused to hold the opening ceremony and inaugural match here.

"I have also written a letter to BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) president Mr Sharad Pawar to hold all IPL matches in Hyderabad as scheduled," he said.

The IPL last month decided to move the opening ceremony and the inaugural match between local franchise Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders, scheduled to be played here March 12, to Mumbai in view of the unrest for a separate state of Telangana.

The state government has claimed that the decision was unilateral and was taken despite the assurance that it would provide security.

The continuing protests over demand for statehood to Telangana, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad, have also put a question mark on four other matches scheduled here.

Though convenor of the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) M. Kodandaram has also written letters to BCCI and IPL officials to hold the inaugural ceremony and all matches here as scheduled, a section of students of Osmania University has threatened to disrupt the matches.

The IPL moved the opening ceremony and inaugural match after pro-Telangana activists forced play between Hyderabad and Andhra in the Deccan T-20 Cup at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium to be abandoned.

The BCCI has also shifted two women's one-day matches between India and England to Visakhapatnam and Bangalore, originally scheduled to be held here this month end.

Last updated on Feb 10^th, 2010 at 15:57 pm IST--IANS