JOIN USA senior city police officer said in a departure from the past, players would not alight from the team bus at the main gate and walk into the dressing room.
“The bus will head straight to the dressing room area. We have asked the Cricket Association of Bengal to pull down portions of the outer wall to make space for the two buses to get in,” he said.
Security has been upped at the ground, the team hotel and the route of the players’ convoy during their stay in the city following intimation from the Union Home Ministry of fidayeen entering Kolkata to carry out terror attacks.
The authorities are also not taking any chances in view of the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March. Several Lankan players and a match official were among those injured.
The stretch from the NSC Bose International Airport to the team hotel has been put under a thick security cover seen only during visits by heads of state.
A large number of policemen will also be on duty on the roads when the team bus travels to and from the team hotel and the ground.
Commandos will be posted on the team buses, while the ground will have double-ring security with officers of deputy commissioner rank in charge.
The two teams arrived in Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon.