Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Cricket » IPL » Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Warne, Watson consider quitting IPL
Get Cricket updates:What's this?
Advertisement
May 15, 2008 12:23 IST

The serial blasts in Jaipur may take its toll on the ongoing multi-million dollar Indian Premier League [Images] as Australian stars Shane Warne [Images] and Shane Watson and South African Graeme Smith [Images] are considering quitting the tournament, according to media reports.

- Will IPL foreign stars return after Jaipur blasts?

Rajasthan Royals' [Images] Warne, Watson, Smith and team manager Darren Berry -- now holidaying in Goa [Images] -- are very scared after the incident and are refusing to return to Jaipur. They are even considering leaving India altogether.

"(There's) a real option of getting on the plane and getting out of here. We are not comfortable at all. This is an extremely uncomfortable situation," Berry was quoted as saying by Macquarie National News.

Berry said his family members in Australia were concerned about his safety in India.

"Cricket has been good to me, but I have a wife and three kids back in Melbourne and they are less than impressed with the part of the world I am in."

Berry said Warne was also worried due to the bomb blasts that killed more than 60 people in the Pink City.

"I was talking to Warnie and asked, 'If this blast had occurred a day before we were due to fly over here, would we still have come?', he said there was no way we would have come.

"It is terrifying. To think I was standing in the exact location the bombs went off only two days ago...it was a couple of kilometres from the team hotel.

"The whole country has gone into lockdown."

Rajasthan Royals are next meeting Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] in their home leg encounter on May 17 and although IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has assured that extra security will be put in place for the tie, Berry is anxious about the evening.

"That is the part that scares me.

"These games are getting big crowds.

"People over here tell me this has nothing to do with cricket, it is political ...but if some people are prepared to cause this type of damage, detonating bombs in peak-hour to harm the most number of people possible...50,000 people come to the stadium to watch the games," Berry said.



  • Download special IPL content on your mobile!
  • Complete coverage: Indian Premier League
    © Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
     Email this Article      Print this Article

    © 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback