LAHORE, March 9: The Indian cricket team is arriving on Wednesday amidst an atmosphere of unprecedented enthusiasm, excitement as well as tighest security measures with people on both sides of the political divide keen , not only to watch cricket but also to meet each other.
The tour became possible after a thaw in relations between the two countries with exchange of various delegations from both sides becoming more frequent. The 23-member Indian squad, which includes 15 cricketers, will reach Lahore by a chartered plane at 1.30pm.
This is the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian cricket team which is set to play a full series in 15 years. The squad includes six cricket officials and two security personnel. The Indian team last visited Pakistan in 1989 for the Test and One-day series.
The atmosphere in Lahore and elsewhere, particularly where the matches are to be played, is highly charged as the two Asian giants are clashing in what is being billed as a great cricket extravaganza after a long time, the outcome of which is unpredictable.
The recent brawl for tickets at Karachi is an indicator of what will possibly happen in other cities where ODIs or Test matches are to be played. Ticket availability seems to be a difficult task and cricket lovers are running from pillar to post to seek the help of influential people to help them procure tickets.
The situation developed after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ruled out the issuance of passes for any of the matches. Lower priced tickets are particularly affected.
Strict security measures have been taken for the protection of team which includes the world's top batsman Sachin Tendulkar and other high-profile cricketers skipper Saurav Ganguly and vice captain Rahul Dravid.
Contingency plans have been made for security deployment along the route of the squad from Lahore airport to its hotel on The Mall. The entire route will be guarded by police. Around 200 security officials will be guarding the squad at the hotel.
India begin their tour with a warm-up match to be played at Gaddafi Stadium the next day (Thursday) starting at 9am. Around 15 Indian journalists have already arrived in Lahore to cover the series for their newspapers and TV channels. In all, 70 Indian journalists belonging to print and electronic media have been accredited by the PCB to cover the series.
Both the governments have made elaborate arrangements for the Indian fans to watch matches in Pakistan. Around 8,000 people are expected to arrive by train, bus and air.
Additional coaches have been attached to the Samjhota Express whereas the Delhi Transport Corporation and the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation have decided to operate more buses between Delhi and Lahore during the 40-day tour.
Similarly, the airlines of the two countries have agreed to operate additional flights. The local administration has removed all encroachments in and around Gaddafi Stadium and declared that the warm-up match on Thursday would be a full dress-rehearsal for the tour. Almost all city hotels are booked to capacity
Meanwhile, PCB appears to be happy with its purse as it has generated a record revenue of $21 million for this high- profile Indian tour through sponsorships and other sources.
Team:
Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Lakshmipaty Balaji, Ramesh Powar, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel.