Essex all-rounder Graham Napier has become the first English player to link up with an Indian Premier League franchise despite lingering concerns about security arrangements for the tournament which begins next week
Essex all-rounder Graham Napier has become the first English player to link up with an Indian Premier League franchise despite lingering concerns about security arrangements for the tournament which begins next week, The Telegraph reported.
Napier arrived in India early on Tuesday morning and went straight into a training session with the Mumbai Indians.
England all-rounder Ravi Bopara was due to follow Napier, his county team-mate, to India to take up his contract with King's XI Punjab.
Napier and Bopara had delayed their departure because of concerns of the ability of the IPL organisers to implement the recommendations of a security report conducted by Dubai-based specialists Nicholls Steyn and Associates.
But Reg Dickason, a security expert working for the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, has now indicated the security issues are starting to be addressed.
"The situation is improving," said Vikram Solanki, chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association.
Six other England players - Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan who are on international duty in Bangladesh plus Hampshire pair Dimitri Mascarenhas and Michael Lumb and Middlesex's Owais Shah -are due to follow Napier and Bopara to the IPL.
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