Deccan warns of IPL boycott over fixtures relocation

The Deccan Chargers franchise is reported to have served a legal notice on the IPL, and threatened a boycott of the 2010 tournament, over the issue of its home matches being shifted out of Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam. It has asked the IPL to reconsider its decision, failing which it would seek legal recourse and, it said, "be justified in withdrawing from IPL Season-III".

PTI reported that the notice, sent to Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, asked the IPL to reconsider its decision to relocate the games and claimed that the decision was taken "arbitrarily, unilaterally, without our client's consent and in complete breach of the Franchise Agreement dated April 10, 2008".

It said the decision to shift the matches was against the objective of having franchisees from various regions of the country and against public interest and consequently was not acceptable to Deccan Chargers.

The IPL announced on Saturday that it had shifted all Deccan's home matches to Mumbai and Nagpur following the uncertainty in Andhra Pradesh over the separatist Telengana agitation. The decision had sparked outrage among political leaders - with senior government ministers calling for a pullout from the tournament - and in the Hyderabad Cricket Association but the franchise itself had so far responded with caution.

The notice reiterated several issues raised earlier in the day by franchise chairman V Shankar. It said that the authorities concerned had given their permission for matches to be staged in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and even the Telangana Joint Action Committee, which is heading the separatist movement, had agreed to extend its support to the IPL.

It asked how the IPL could relocate the matches to Mumbai in the absence of any similar assurance from the Shiv Sena, the regional chauvinist party that has said it won't allow Australian players in the city following the racist attacks on Indian students in Australia.

The Shiv Sena's threat, it said, would adversely affect the performance of the Deccan Chargers team, which includes Australian players, if they are compelled to play in Mumbai.

The IPL had initially announced only the shifting of the opening match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders, which has several events on the sidelines, from Hyderabad to Navi Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium.

This past week had seen several reports of IPL matches being moved out of Hyderabad. Concerns over the political situation in Andhra Pradesh have already resulted in the shifting of an ODI between India and Sri Lanka from Visakhapatnam last December, and two ODIs scheduled for Hyderabad, during England women's tour of India in February-March, have now been split between Bangalore and Mumbai. Also, spectators were barred from entering the stadium for the first two days of the Duleep Trophy final between West Zone and South Zone in Hyderabad because of a perceived security threat.

Deccan are the defending champions, having beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final in South Africa last year. The result was a total turnaround from their last-placed finish in the inaugural edition in 2008.