Fears over the threat to cricket posed by Islamic terrorism grew yesterday as it was revealed that two top Indian players were the targets of a kidnap plot hatched by Muslim militants.A court in India has heard that a Pakistan-based Islamic group planned to kidnap the country's former national cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly, together with legendary Test batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
The confession was made by Tariq Mohammed and Ashfaq Ahmed, who were members of the Harkat ul-Jehadi Islami (Islamic Holy War Movement), a Kashmiri separatist organisation which draws inspiration from Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
The pair told detectives that they had trained in Afghanistan and entered India from Bangladesh on a mission to kidnap the two cricket stars to force the release of two terrorist leaders being held in Indian jails.
Although the confessions were made in 2002, they have sent a chill through the Indian cricket establishment in the wake of the gun attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore at the start of this month.
Details of the plot emerged as the Indian Premier League dropped Delhi and Jaipur as host venues for the forthcoming Twenty-20 cricket tourmament, amid fears that terrorists might attack key matches or abduct top cricket stars.
Indian home minister, P Chidambaram, had voiced doubts over whether the tournament would go ahead at all. Officials are concerned that it coincides with campaigning for the Indian general election, and fear the country's security forces and police will be dangerously overstretched if they have to protect both events.
British and American officials have voiced fears that another terrorist attack in the run-up to the election could cause a new war between India and Pakistan.
The latest Premier League fixture list has now dropped Delhi and Jaipur from the list of venues, and shifted key matches to Dharamsala, the Himalayan hill town known as the home of the Dalai Lama.
Match dates have now been rearranged to avoid coinciding with polling in each area. One senior IPL official said:"We do not expect any problems now. The ministry will now consult the state governments and get back to us."
The decision has shocked the Delhi Daredevils, the Indian capital's franchise for the tournament, who now fears their revenues will be wiped out by the switch. The team includes former England captain Paul Collingwood, Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and opening batsman Virender Sehwag.
"This is not the final schedule. We'll wait and see what finally emerges. If there are no matches in Delhi, we would need sort out the issue with the organizers as we would lose a lot of money on gate receipts and sponsorships," said a team spokesman.
The re-jigged schedule has also dealt a serious blow to the Jaipur-based Rajasthan Royals, which is partly owned by Celebrity Big Brother star Shilpa Shetty.
Both teams are guaranteed a share of the Indian Premier League's $1 billion television rights deal with Sony Television, but they could both lose out on marketing and merchandise deals.
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