The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Australians wary of travelling to India

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Australians wary of travelling to India

Melbourne: Australian cricketers are wary of travelling to India for the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April-May next year after the recent Mumbai terror attacks, according to a report.

A report in The Australian said senior Australian players are uncertain about going to India in the near future and player managers have also expressed concern.

Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke said security was one of the issues he had to weigh-up when considering signing for the second edition of the IPL next year.

“I have a lot of things to consider. I have to think about the amount of cricket, I am trying to plan a wedding as well and I have to think about what happened there recently,” said Clarke who did not join an IPL franchise this year and is yet to make up his mind about entering the Twenty20 event’s second season next year.

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“I am going to play this Test series (against South Africa) and then I can sit down with Lara (his fiancée) and my family and make a decision. I certainly would love to be part of the IPL, but it is a matter of timing. If I am right to go I will look forward to that,” he added.

The report said other Australian players also said the terror attacks on the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, where they had stayed many times, had created anxiety about returning for IPL.

One player manager said he had not been approached by any IPL-contracted cricketers with security concerns, but he said they would all be nervous.

“If something happens to one of teams I think cricketers will head for the hills and I can’t blame them,” he said. “However, India is a very resilient place and tends to bounce back from these sort of things.” — PTI

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