Sport

Heavy security for teams

— Photo: PTI

COMING IN UNDER COVER: Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid snapped on arrival at a Kolkata hotel for the second Test beginning on Friday. The Pakistan and Indian teams have been given extra protection following threats to disrupt the match.

KOLKATA: India and Pakistan cricket teams arrived under a heavy cover of security ahead of the second Test to be played at the Eden Gardens from Friday. The teams were swooped under cover of heavy police escorts right from the airport and the local police put up specific requests for the visitors not to venture out of the city hotel.

The unprecedented security for the Pakistan squad was arranged following an e-mail that called for the abandonment of the match and had a threat to harm the visitors.

According to a senior police official, the security has been buffered with the constitution of a special action force and there would be additional number of commandoes and ‘rapid action force’ to create a blanket of security around the teams.

Additional security is also in place at the Eden Gardens.

According to a Cricket Association of Bengal spokesman, special cameras will monitor the stands and specific locations in the stadium.

The West Bengal government home secretary, Prasad Ranjan Ray, said that the e-mail would not affect the match and “it would be held on schedule.”

Mr. Ray said the e-mail was sent from Delhi but the sender was yet to be identified. Intelligence agencies SIB (Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau) and RAW are investigating the matter, he added.

The Indian captain Anil Kumble and manager Lalchand Rajput, who visited Eden Gardens and had a look at the pitch, were satisfied with the pitch, a CAB official informed.

A big part of the Indian squad, including Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R.P. Singh, S. Sreesanth, Dinesh Karthik, Murali Kartik and Robin Singh, are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.

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