Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state, has seen unrest over the past few weeks after the federal government announced in December that the region would be carved in two to create a separate state of Telangana. Protesters on Thursday disrupted a Twenty20 cricket match organised by the Deccan Chargers franchise in Hyderabad.
"The first match of the IPL's new season will now be held in Mumbai on March 12," said Modi. "The opening match and the gala dinner the previous evening are very important for us. "People from all over the world are coming and we are going to make sure that everything is in order. We don't want to take any chances. "There are no changes to other matches, everything looks fine."
Hyderabad were due to host the seven home matches of the Chargers. Two weeks ago, an influential right-wing Hindu party in Mumbai warned that it would try to stop Australian cricketers playing in parts of India because of attacks on Indians living Down Under.