| All Illustrations by Bilash Rai |
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Frightened fans?
It has not been the greatest of months for cricket. First, fans lost out with the cancellation of the Indian squad's scheduled Pakistan tour in early 2009, a direct consequence of the November Bombay attacks. (India's February tour of Sri Lanka, however, went ahead despite calls from Tamil Nadu politicians that it be scrapped in protest of the "massacre of Tamils" by Colombo.) Now, just as the cricket world is once again gearing up for the second installation of the extravaganza that is the Twenty20-format Indian Premier League (IPL), it is certain that the festivities will not include everybody.