Miffed with the Indian Premier League for shifting its opening match from here, Andhra Pradesh Sports Minister K Venkat Reddy today asked local franchise Deccan Chargers to boycott the Twenty20 tournament starting March 12.
“There are crores of cricket fans in Hyderabad. We have a world class stadium (in Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium).
They (IPL) have insulted Andhra Pradesh by shifting the inaugural match. The government has asked the Deccan Chargers to boycott the IPL,” Reddy told reporters.
“They are a private team but whatever it is, a request or order, they should not play in the IPL,” he said.
“We request the IPL to change (the shifting of the opener). The chief minister is speaking to Sharad Pawar,” he added.
IPL had shifted the opening match to Mumbai from here in view of the security concerns which may arise due to Telangana agitation.