Cricket-Indian party threatens IPL games over domestic event

CHENNAI, India, July 3 (Reuters) - A rightwing Hindu political party has threatened to disrupt Indian Premier League (IPL) matches next year unless the cricket board restored a key one-day tournament to the domestic calendar, local media reported on Friday.

The Shiv Sena party workers protested outside the board headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday after it scrapped the event named after the late D.B. Deodhar, a respected batsman who hailed from Maharashtra state, the party stronghold.

"The BCCI has insulted the pride of Maharashtra by aborting the tournament named after Professor D.B. Deodhar," a party spokesman told DNA newspaper. "If the decision is not reversed, Shiv Sena will not allow a single IPL match in the state."

Indian media had widely reported that the Deodhar Trophy was axed from next year's crowded calendar to fit in IPL matches.

The board scrambled to ward off any possible trouble.

"We are trying to squeeze in the Deodhar Trophy somewhere," its chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told local media. (Reporting by Sanjay Rajan; Editing by N.Ananthanarayanan. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)