Zor se Bol

First, it was IPL moving out of India on security grounds. And now there are dark clouds on whether Davis Cup will be held in India as Tennis Australia has written to the International Tennis Federation asking for the Davis Cup tie, to be played in Chennai from May 8 to 10, to be moved out of India for security reasons.

As per reports with leading English Daily in India, ITF’s communications officer Nick Imison confirmed that Tennis Australia had written to the ITF asking for the Asia-Oceania Group I third round tie to be moved. The ITF on its part had sent out a questionnaire to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) last week.

Col Chauhan, executive director of the AITA said that everything will be fine and we will hold the prestigious tie in India. In his words “I personally went to Chennai to oversee everything. In January we had the Chennai ATP event there. It was held after 26/11 and it was very successful. We’ll be using the same stadium, the same hotel, and the same security agency for the Davis Cup tie too. We’ve also got government support. That’s the reason we chose Chennai over the other venues. It’s absolutely safe.”

Nick Imison confirmed the receipt of AIT’s reply and said despite assurance, their security advisory will look into the security measures and take the decision.

If a tie is moved out of a particular country for security reasons, the tie in all likelihood will be played in the rival country. In India’s case it will be Australia. If India is asked to forfeit this chance they’ll be given choice of surface the next two times the countries meet. The chance of playing at the neutral venue is minimal as there is lack of audience interest at the venue.

Security concerns about playing in India were first raised by Australia’s No. 1 player Lleyton Hewitt, who was quoted by Australian media as saying, “I think everyone’s probably got concerns, probably more so after what happened in Pakistan to the Sri Lankan cricket team.”

And with IPL withdrawing out of India, these concerns received the fuel to move Davis Cup outside India.

What will happen with Commonwealth games 2010 then? Do you think the decision by the Government to deny security to IPL was a bad step? Or was IPL’s decision not to postpone the matches and move out of India was a bad decision denying millions of fan to view the matches live and raise doubts about Indian security? Have your say on Zor se Bol!