Barely days after choosing Dharamsala as their second home, the IPL franchisee Kings XI Punjab has said it will not play any match at the venue as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister has not assured security for the team.
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) on Friday said the Kings XI Punjab is not willing to play in Dharamsala as the team has not received any positive response from the State government. HPCA public relations officer Sanjay Sharma said after waiting for the HP government’s reply for the last nine days, Kings XI Punjab wrote a letter on Thursday to IPL governing council chief Rajeev Shukla and said they want their three matches to be played in Mohali now.
The decision will once again disappoint cricket fans in the hill State, coming as it does after the India-Pakistan World T20 tie was moved out because of security concerns.
The State government and the Chief Minister had refused to provide the security saying that the match would hurt the feelings of families of martyrs from Himachal who had lost their lives in the attack on the Pathankot air base. Dharamsala has a large number of ex-servicemen who had threatened to stall a possible India-Pakistan semi final.
There is gap between the promises and deeds of the Chief Minister, Mr. Sharma said while claiming that the latter had even taken Rs. 10 lakh for the Chief Minister’s relief fund from the Punjab team.
Cricket and cricket fans have been repeatedly disappointed because of what appears to be a conflict between the Virbhadra led Congress government and the HPCA.
