Cricket's lucrative Indian Premier League is shopping for bullet-proof buses and cars to protect its star players even as the fate of the tournament remained uncertain on Friday. A local newspaper in India said a South African private security firm hired by the multi-million dollar Twenty20 league had approached a local company to buy 16 special buses and 64 armoured SUV's -- worth roughly 3.1 million dollars in all. The scramble for additional protection came last week in the wake of the deadly attack against the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan on March 3, which killed eight Pakistanis and injured seven players. But the paper pointed out that with demand high from Indian politicians campaigning for next month's general elections, the IPL may be unable to buy shielded vehicles at such short notice. The report comes as the IPL remained embroiled in a row with the Indian government over security. Less than a month before the scheduled opening on April 10, the home ministry has still not cleared the tournament because it clashes with parliamentary elections.