Hyderabad, October 08: The Gymkhana cricket ground in Secunderabad turned into a fortress on Wednesday as Somerset Country Cricket team of England
and the Otago Volts team of New Zealand played a warm-up match in preparation for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.
The ground was barricaded with asbestos sheets. Policemen surrounded the entire area.
Thanks to security fears, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), on instructions from Champions League organising committee, kept it out of bounds for the public. “We are helpless in this matter. We have to follow instructions.
We can’t take a risk in security matters,” said an official of the HCA.
Entry to the ground was restricted, even media personnel were subjected to frisking. Only some women cricketers watched the match. The usually busy Gymkhana ground wore a desolate look indeed with gun-toting cops surrounding it and empty stands taking away from the fun of the game.
–Agencies–