The Deccan Chargers threatened to sue the Indian Premier League authorities and skip the third edition of the Twenty20 league beginning next month if its home matches are not re-allotted to Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam.

Lashing out at the IPL Governing Council’s “unilateral” decision to shift the matches to Navi Mumbai and Nagpur (due to the Telangana issue in the state), Deccan Chargers chairman V. Shankar said that the Hyderabad-based franchisee would move court if its demand is not met by the IPL governing council, which meets on March 12.

“The IPL has taken a unilateral decision to shift all our home matches out of Andhra Pradesh though Chief Minister K. Rosiah, Sports Minister K. Venkat Reddy and the DGP have assured us full protection in the conduct of these matches,” Shankar said.

“The Telangana Agitation Committee has also given us in writing that they want these matches to be held (as per schedule),” the franchise chairman said.

“Anyway, Maharashtra is no safer place and we have several Australians in the line up, including the support staff, whose safety has been threatened,” Shankar reasoned, referring to Shiv Sena’s threat against the Australian players following the racist attacks on Indian students Down Under.

Shankar made it clear that the Chargers, who won the title in 2009, will not hesitate to take IPL to the court and skip the league unless their demands are met.