The Lahore terror attacks of Tuesday have had several fallouts in international cricket; some of which are giving all those connected with the Indian premier league (IPL) sleepless nights. Heightened security concerns have meant that no match will be allowed to clash with the Loksabha polls which makes the logistics of the IPL matches highly doubtful.

Indian Premier League officials are confident of reorganizing the match schedules however this would take time and failing to do so will cause the franchises heavy losses. ‘‘It’s all up to the home ministry. Each team will run up heavy revenue losses if the event is not held from April 10 to March 24 as planned. There is talk of staging even three matches a day at a venue but how can you reorganise so many dates?’’ a franchisee official raised concern.

While cancellation would cost an estimated Rs 2000 crore, (each franchisee standing to lose a minimum of Rs 28-30 crore in potential revenue), the postponement of the event is also not feasible. The ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) being as jam-packed as it is, the IPL is required to be held in the 6 week window beginning 10 April. Franchisees not only fear huge losses they also fear loss of jobs and loss of income generated by TV rights will be difficult to sustain. In this scenario breaking even would even be impossible. Loss from advertising revenues is something else that would be greatly troubling the head honchos of the IPL teams.  ‘‘If Indian Premier League is rescheduled, at stake are advertising campaigns, launches and activities — all will be affected. It will upset a lot of facets of advertising connect, leading to chaos. There is nothing that matches it (IPL) in scale and value,’’ an official was reported as having said in the cricket news.

Following Tuesday’s attacks, the security arrangements will now have to be of a standard to reassure the players as well as the home ministry. Tim May of the International Players’ Association has even asking for an independent security review, which shows that there is a heightened security consciousness among players as well. The players themselves, such as Jacob Oram (who plays for Chennai Super Kings) and Glenn McGrath (for Delhi Daredevils) also have now expressed their reservations. Some players would have considered pulling out of the Indian Premier League, has it not been for contracts binding them. ‘‘It does hit home a lot more, considering being a cricketer,’’ said McGrath after the Lahore attacks.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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