Greater security to be provided: Shaharyar - Three-member Indian delegation arrives
By Our Sports Correspondent
LAHORE, Feb 9: The Indian cricketers will be provided greater security than given to South Africa, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M Khan told reporters on Monday.
"Pakistan had made excellent security arrangements for SouthAfrica, but for India there will be greater security wherever they go in Pakistan," he said. Chairman said that President Pervez Musharraf, during his meeting on Feb 6 with him, had assured that no stone would remain unturned in providing security to the Indian team.
He added that basically the venues of the matches of the Indian tour to Pakistan had been agreed upon between the two boards in principle, and the visiting Indian security team was expected to discuss refinements before finalizing the itinerary.
A three-member Indian security delegation arrived on Monday. The chairman said that ad-hoc committees were being formed in every city where the matches would be played.
He pointed out that LUMS had submitted its preliminary report regarding assessing the real staff strength required by the board andthe final report would be received later. He explained that action on the basis of the report did not relate to the conclusion of the Indian tour and necessary steps could be taken at any time.
Meanwhile, the PCB chairman threw his weight behind his team dealing with the bidding process of nine business categories on sale for the forthcoming Pakistan-India series, despite some reservations raised by the bidders.
The PCB accepted the bids on Saturday but delayed announcing the successful bidder until Monday. The board again deferred it for another day (until Tuesday) when the bidders assembled at its offices to hear the news.
However, Shaharyar said a number of conditions in the bidding process had to be met and it needed more time to finalize, therefore, the announcement had to be deferred.
Senior police official and security expert Yashovardhan Azad heads the delegation with Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the BCCI, and Amrit Mathur, media manager and a former administrative manager of the national team.
AFP adds: Azad, the elder brother of former cricket international Kirti Azad, was put in charge of security for the Pakistani team on its last tour of India in early 1999.
"We are here with open minds and besides security assessments we will inspect cricketing arrangements which have been a routine before an international series," Amrit Mathur said.
When Mathur's attention was drawn towards India captain Saurav Ganguly's comments, quoted in the Indian media on Monday, saying his players had safety concerns over the March-April tour of Pakistan, Mathur refused to comment saying: "I don't want to make any comment on that but yes I have read it and aware of it."
The delegation will assess security at all the venues for a three-day side game, three Tests and five one-day games to be played in March-April. The itinerary for the series will be finalised only after the delegation submits its report to the BCCI, which has a proposed itinerary from the Pakistan Cricket Board.
The delegation will meet police officials and para-military staff in Lahore, Multan, Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar during their eight-day stay in Pakistan.
The volatile southern city of Karachi and border town of Peshawar neighbouring Afghanistan - the two venues where South Africa and New Zealand refused to play matches last year - have been the main worries.
