He also said that IPL opening ceremony in Mumbai will take place on April 10 and tickets are likely to go on sale from next week.
Tournament will now move to new venues of Ahmedabad and Vishakapatnam. IPL is still trying to get a confirmation from Dharamsala to host matches, he said.
Katrina Kaif & Akshay Kumar at IPL T20 Match Photo
Mumbai Indians’ owner Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani, team captain Sachin Tendulkar’s wife Anjali Tendulkar and actress Kareena Kapoor
Katrina Kaif at IPL T20 Match Photo
As far as player security is concerned during the tournament, Modi said IPL will be responsible for security of Indian and foreign players till the end of the tournament. He said foreign players would be given security from the moment they land in India to the moment they leave the country. He also clarified that not a single player has contacted IPL over tournament security.
IPl will be coordinating with state governments for security and 90 per cent of states have approved IPL’s new schedule.
Modi announced that IPL has a contracted revenue of Rs 10,970 crore this year.
Earlier, the Home Ministry received the revised schedule which has since been forwarded to the police establishments of the 8 states that will be hosting matches.
However, there still seems to be considerable confusion with the IPL saying the government clearance is on track and the ministry saying they’re yet to give a final clearance.
Most of the states also continue to have reservations about hosting matches scheduled close to the polling dates.
The involved in the IPL are Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharshtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
The IPL chief may be gung-ho about the mega cricket event, but the government is far from it. The Home Ministry has said paramilitary forces can be spared in April, but it will be a problem in May.
