In a clear indication, England's Ravi Bopara became the first international cricketer to opening admit that he was not comfortable travelling to India for IPL 3, a report denied by Lalit Modi.
ravi bopara1
The IPL Chairman and Commissioner used Twitter to announce that the speculation over Ravi Bopara was misplaced, "Just spoke to Ravi Bopara -- he is looking forward to coming to India. All the news about him not coming and comments are completely false."
Bopara had expressed his reservations about keeping his commitment to the Kings XI Punjab to a local newspaper in England, "This is a very tricky call. I have been in touch with the franchise and they are pretty positive that things will be OK. But Reg Dickason's report says something different. At the moment I'm nowhere with this decision. I've had some contact with other players. No one has said they are definitely not going, but no one has said they definitely are either. I have pushed back my flight so I can give myself a bit more time to see what happens and whether the security measures are implemented."
Bopara's strongest words though came in the statement, "Cricket is my living and in many way my life. But it is not worth dying for."
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