Pak team inspects KSCA Stadium for T20 match
PCB officials satisfied with security arrangements
A four-member Pakistani recce team which arrived here to inspect security and preparations for their team’s December 25 Twenty20 International against India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday expressed its happiness with arrangements made by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
The team including Ehsan Sadiq, Director of security with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Sohail Khan, a top police officer of a provincial government, and Usman Wahla, in charge of international cricket in Pakistan met KSCA secretary Javagal Srinath and top police officers. The one-hour meeting was also attended by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty and board representative Suru Nayak.
PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar said there has been nothing objectionable that they have come across during their visit. He said: “The BCCI and the local associations have tremendous experience in hosting matches and they also handle the IPL. They are trained to organise matches.
We have just come here to see hotel arrangements and security measures. It is also about getting ourselves familiar with venues, striking a rapport with office-bearers of local associations and establishing co-ordination with them.”
Sarwar said the team was satisfied with the security arrangements for the match. “They have taken care of almost everything. We have complete faith in the local administration that they have the capability to handle everything. As for specific requests, we are also requesting them to do the required mechanism for the Pakistani supporters who will come here. We were not seeking any additional security,” Sarwar said.
About 500 Pakistani spectators are expected to cross the border to witness two T20 matches and three one-dayers of the two countries. “There will also be high-profile personalities as guests of the PCB. Among them will be our former players and at least two of them will come here,” he added. The delegation visited Kolkata on Sunday.
Pakistan will open the tour with the Bangalore T20 match on Christmas Day before moving to Ahmedabad for the second T20 on December 27. The ODIs will be in Chennai (December 30), Kolkata (January 3) and New Delhi (January 6).
Meanwhile, Sri Rama Sene and 19 other pro-Kannada organisations have threatened to vandalise the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in protest against the Pakistan team playing in India.
Sri Rama Sene president Pramod Muthalik said the Indo-Pak cricket series would demean “patriots” who have sacrificed their lives to protect the lives of millions of Indians.
He claimed that David Coleman Headley, a terror suspect, had stated that people from Pakistan had overstayed after receiving visa to watch the games between the two nations in 2007. “This same methodology will be used by terrorists to enter India again and risk the lives of millions of Indians,” he alleged.
Under the umbrella organisation of ‘India versus Pakistan Virodhi Ookuta’, Sri Rama Sene has stated that it “will not allow the series to start here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at any cost.” It will submit a memorandum to the chief minister, home minister and the KSCA to cancel the Bangalore match.
Additional Commissioner of Police, (Law and Order), T Suneel Kumar said: “Such threats and hooliganism will be dealt with seriously. We will ensure all possible measures for the smooth passing of the cricket match.”
