Reacting to the threat on Australian cricketers in the Indian Premier League by political parties in Mumbai, Rajasthan Royal's chief executive officer Sean Morris on Thursday said it was a shame that sports had become such an easy target in India, reports Indian Express.
“Cricket in India has a lot more to it, especially the passion and the people. It's a shame that it's being used purely for personal pride,” Morris said at a media conference here.
Rajasthan, the champions of the first edition, have six Australian players, including their skipper Shane Warne. The recent attacks on Indians Down Under and the Indian outrage had put question marks over the Aussie players' enthusiasm to feature in this edition of the IPL. The Australian Cricketers' Association has said they were taking the threats seriously, and that they were waiting to see the security plans before making recommendations to their players.
Morris also insisted that the fact that no Pakistan players were picked by them was based purely on cricketing reasons. “You have to look at who you've got. You have to look at who you need to strengthen your squad and one of the two criteria we had on our list is availability. Do you think Rajasthan will buy any leg-spinner? It's got nothing to do with nationality. Nationality never ever come up in our conversation. They are great players but this year we have got our squad.”
Morris remained hopeful that the Australian players turn up once the concerns are duly addressed. “I'm pretty sure the Aussies will turn up,” Morris said. “The players I know are pretty robust characters. They want to be comfortable and don't want any distractions. Once they get here, they'll be focussed on cricket and get on with it. They are here to entertain and they will be fine when they get to that stage.”
With one month left for the tournament, Rajasthan are hoping they can recreate some of the magic from the first season.
