AP CM writes to Pawar, promises safety during IPL

Assuring "all necessary support" for peaceful staging of IPL matches in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday urged former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar to convince the organisers of the Twenty20 event to stick to the tournament's original schedule.

Rosaiah wrote a letter to Pawar, the Union Agriculture Minister, saying IPL's decision to shift the inaugural match of the third edition of the tournament from the city has left many cricket lovers "disappointed".

The Chief Minister in the letter assured that the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) has promised to extend full support for hosting the IPL matches in the city.

"The decision of the IPL governing council to shift the inaugural match... to other parts of the country has left the cricket-lovers in the state totally disappointed," Rosaiah wrote in the letter.

"I request you to intervene personally and use your good offices for organising the IPL-III matches in Hyderabad in the larger interest of cricket fans.

"Telangana Joint Action Committee, which is spearheading the agitation, has assured to extend full co-operation for the conduct of matches in Hyderabad and state police department has also given permission and made security arrangements for all T20 matches," the letter read.

IPL had shifted its March 12 inaugural match from the city to Mumbai citing possible security concerns after a pro-Telangana agitators recently disrupted a Twenty20 game.

Andhra Pradesh Sports Minister K Venkat Reddy has also sent a letter to Pawar urging him to ensure that the opening match is held here as per the original schedule, failing which he had asked the local team Deccan Chargers to boycott the event.

The Chargers will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening encounter of IPL III.