18 March,2009 08:15 AM IST | | A Correspondent
NOT long ago, Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi was delighted to see England players entering the fold for the second edition of the cricketing extravaganza.
Now, it is to be seen how many English players will actually make it. Clearly, though Indian cricket administrators like to stress that India is not Pakistan when it comes to security, what happened to the Sri Lankan players in Lahore has given rise to new fears.
The English media doesn't fall behind when it comes to harping on security fears. The Guardian's columnist David Hopps seemed to be surprised with Ahmedabad as a new IPL venue when the English team had refused to play a match there recently.
"What cricket must ensure is that the IPL does not present its security arrangements in brochure form. There is merit in the argument of Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, that India is safer than Pakistan, but only a man of such audacity would proclaim it so confidently so soon after the horrors of Mumbai," wrote Hopps.
David Lloyd, the former England batsman turned commentator wrote on the Sky Sports blog that he was wary of security in the sub-continent.
"When I was in India last autumn," wrote Lloyd, "there was a knock on the door of my fourth-floor hotel room.
And when I opened it there was a guy who stood there with a gun. As it turned out, it was a security guard who wanted me to pose for a photograph, but it scared me half to death.
"I believe we do it right in England. I am on first-name terms with the security guards at every English ground, but I am still thoroughly searched every single morning and sniffer dogs are sent into my car. That's how it should be."
Lloyd also brought up the fact that an English journalist was allowed to "walk right into the middle of the pitch and all he needed to do was flash his pass from last year's FA Cup final."
