Security fears over IPL mount

Tim May, the world cricketers' union chief, has revealed his organisation are being contacted by increasingly numbers of players with security concerns over the Indian Premier League (IPL). Security fears are already threatening to overshadow the third holding of the tournament which gets under way in Mumbai on March 12. And Federation of International Cricketers (FICA) chief executive May feels those fears could persuade players not to participate.

"There is an extremely high level of concern from a number of players from a number of countries about the IPL and security," said May. "I think you'll find that some players are more risk averse than others and will probably stay at home. "It's up to the individual players whether they go to the IPL. All we can gauge an opinion on is the number of concerned calls we have received in the last few weeks.

"Let's just say those calls are increasing by the day." The IPL is the second of three high-profile international sporting events taking place in India this year, in-between the Hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, both of which are being staged in Delhi. All three were threatened in a statement, reportedly from an operational arm of al Qa'eda, delivered to Asia Times Online yesterday.

Meanwhile, Canada rebounded from their one-run defeat to Afghanistan on Tuesday by beating them by four wickets in Sharjah yesterday. A knock of 52 from Ashish Bagai, the wicketkeeper batsman, helped Canada reach their target of 178 with more than 10 overs to spare. Earlier, Khurram Chohan had taken four for 43 as Afghanistan were bowled out for 177. @Email:[e-mail]