NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Pakistan will face “ferocious” protests when they play in the Champions Trophy cricket tournament next week in India, a right-wing Hindu leader warned on Tuesday.

“Our opposition will be swift and ferocious if Pakistan dare to play on Indian soil,” Jai Bhagwan Goyal, president of the New Delhi chapter of the Shiv Sena, told AFP.

Pakistan play their opening match in the Rajasthan city of Jaipur on October 17. They take on New Zealand in Mohali on October 25 and South Africa at the same Punjab stadium two days later.

“Pitches can again be dug up ... Many things can happen which we will not disclose now as it will alert the security agencies,” Goyal said in an interview.

“But whatever we do it will be a powerful and very visible protest,” he added.

Goyal demanded New Delhi halt Pakistan's participation in the 10-nation tournament which ends November 5 with the final in the Shiv Sena bastion of Mumbai, formerly Bombay.

His followers dug up New Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla ground in 1999, eight years after Sena men damaged the Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium to protest the Pakistani cricket team's presence in India.

The Hindu leader warned that Sena's regional units in Jaipur as well as in Punjab state, were “committed and ready.”

“We demand New Delhi to call off Pakistan's participation in this tournament to express its opposition to terrorism.” The government has said it will reinforce security at venues where Pakistan play.—AFP