The latest controversy surrounding the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) involves the participation of Sri Lankan cricketers in matches to be played in Tamil Nadu - Chennai, to be specific - this season.

Tamil activists in the state had threatened to disrupt IPL matches at home to denounce the killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka, following which the IPL Governing Council (GC) decided that all franchises, including hosts Chennai Super Kings, will not play their Sri Lankan players in matches scheduled in Chennai.

"The security of all involved in IPL - players, spectators or those working in stadiums, is of paramount importance to BCCI," the governing council has said. "It has been decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in the IPL 2013 league matches in Chennai and will advise the nine franchises accordingly."

Some IPL franchises, who feel they will not be overly affected by non-participation of Sri Lankan players - which includes the Chennai Super Kings too - are willing to agree to the decision.

However, there are others who do not feel this is a fair call. While none of the franchise officials wished to speak on record, some did raise concerns that the decision was not fair on all teams and Sri Lankan players in particular.

Five IPL franchises have reputed Sri Lankan players, bought in the auction at high prices, who can single handedly change the course of a match in this fickle format.

The Sun Risers, for instance, have Kumar Sangakkara in their team who may be as important to their prospects as MS Dhoni is to CSK. Mumbai Indians could also be affected if Lasith Malinga is forced to sit out in a crucial game.

Similarly, Royal Challengers Bangalore have Tillakaratne Dilshan as opener and Muttiah Muralitharan as one of their main bowlers while Pune Warriors India are dependent on Angelo Mathews and Ajantha Mendis.

Further, some knockout matches are scheduled in Chennai too, which could become a larger issue as the tournament progresses.

Why did the governing council choose to ignore that in do-or-die matches, these players could be crucial to their teams' prospects. Instead, a wiser option would've been to shift the venue.

Every single time in the last five years when political circumstances ended up crippling the start of an IPL season, the governing council - final authority on decisions - unfalteringly decided to shift the venue to a more peaceful location simply to appease all parties concerned.

In 2009, the IPL was shifted to South Africa to ease the government's security concerns. In 2010, the Hyderabad franchise lost out on their share of matches because of the Telangana crisis.

In 2011, the Kochi franchise had to play quite a few of their home matches in Indore following multiple controversies. Between 2012 and 2013, Rajasthan Royals were almost forced to shift their matches out of Jaipur because of the ruling Congress-led state government's dispute with the BJP-influenced cricket association.

However, this year, the conflict involving the state of Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring Sri Lankan island has taken its toll on cricketers.

Instead, the governing council could've simply shifted matches out of Chennai, like in the past when similar decisions have been swiftly taken, to avoid another unnecessary controversy.

This is unless the BCCI president, who also owns the franchise, two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, personally intervened.


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