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Oram voices IPL concerns

Image: Oram: Questions to be asked

Jacob Oram says the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan could have implications on next month's Indian Premier League.

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New Zealand all-rounder says that "reality has hit home"

Jacob Oram has said that the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan could have implications on next month's Indian Premier League. The New Zealand all-rounder plays in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings alongside Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Tuesday's attack in Lahore, which killed eight people and injured several Sri Lanka players and their assistant coach Paul Fabrace, comes after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai late last year. That atrocity saw terrorists target Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, which has been used as a base for touring cricketers in the past. Despite the assertions of IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi that security has been increased, Oram has said that tough individual decisions are going to have to be made. "I think before (Mumbai) I would have had no worries going to India but now I think there are definite questions to be asked," he said. "(Players' Association executive manager) Heath Mills, the players' association, FICA (Federation of International Cricketers' Associations) and the ICC (International Cricket Council) are looking into security measures there because last year at the IPL it was such a circus feeling and the fanfare was amazing, that you almost forgot where you were. "Now reality has hit home and you know that you are in the subcontinent and things that we take for granted, like safety and freedom of doing what you want to do, aren't so readily available over there. "The IPL, obviously financially, has opened doors that I only dreamed about, but I'm married now and it would take a lot for me to actually turn a blind eye to what's going on. "I know the players' associations around the world are trying to up the security at the IPL and from what I've read Lalit Modi is saying that security has been beefed up. "If that's the case - and obviously I have to find out a little bit more about it - if we can be assured of our safety I won't say no to it just yet. "But if it gets worse we've seriously got to look at it."

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