Concerns galore for Bangalore on eve of key clash

| Text size: A | A

	Virender Sehwag gets treatment after getting hit on the ribcage © AFP Enlarge
Related Links News : Chaos in Bangalore as fans rush for tickets News : ICC asks Pawar to intervene over tickets Players/Officials: Virender Sehwag Series/Tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup Teams: India

Two days before India and England play their high-voltage Group B World Cup match, Bangalore finds itself full of questions. Friday began with Virender Sehwag being struck on the ribcage in the nets and the BCCI requesting the media to "refrain" from going after players for interviews before the match. It ended with a heavy downpour over the city that suddenly caused another round of worry for the teams, organisers, ICC and broadcasters. In between, the uncertainty over tickets - which led to the police baton-charge yesterday, and also to the ICC asking Sharad Pawar to intervene - continued, with the number of unsold tickets still unclear.

Sehwag's injury this morning - he was hit on the left ribcage - came during a training session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but he is currently under medication and is expected to be fit for the England game, according to a BCCI press release. "A thorough examination has been done and a scan is not required," Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal said. "There is no major worry and he is fit enough to play." The Indians trained on a different set of wickets to the ones they have over the last two days, and some of them are said to have found that their practice pitches had some uneven bounce. Sehwag was batting at the centre wicket of the NCA when he was hit on the ribs by one of the local net bowlers. The worry around him had dissipated by the afternoon.

The BCCI's release with the Sehwag injury update ended with a request to the media to "refrain from constantly contacting the members of the Indian cricket team on phone / SMS for interviews / bites as players would like to concentrate on the ongoing World Cup matches."

The immediate ticket crisis was overshadowed by the weather, which suddenly loomed as a threat over Bangalore on Friday evening. The game against England was moved from Eden Gardens in January. All weather reports, however, indicate that the skies will be clear on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore police have said the match will be played in a secure environment for both players and fans, unlike yesterday's incident when people queuing up for tickets were baton-charged. "We will deploy about 3,000 policemen, including 700 traffic police in and around the stadium to ensure foolproof security for the match," Shankar Bidari, the Bangalore police commissioner, told AFP.

"Special security will be provided for hundreds of English fans expected to arrive in the city to watch the match," Bidari said. "Keeping in view the global threat perception, we are taking all precautions, including intelligence-gathering to prevent undesirable elements entering the stadium."

The police crackdown over people trying to buy tickets outside the stadium has disturbed many of the English contingent - team, media and fans - in the city, Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, said he was "shocked" by it but did, however, add that the England team were satisfied with the security being offered to them in Bangalore. "It is shocking to hear people getting hurt in something as light as queuing up for a cricket ticket. No one likes to see that. So obviously, we are disappointed that happened. But security-wise we felt very safe as a team. We have been looked after very well by the police who have been fantastic. But it's awful to hear of what happened at the ground."

Bidari said it was unfortunate that the police had to use force to control the crowds outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and Ratnakar Shetty, the World Cup tournament director, apologised to fans. "We are sorry the fans have been let down," Shetty said. "We understand their sentiments but we can't do much."

Shetty's helplessness stems from the ticketing commitments the organisers have towards the board's member associations, members of the host state associations, the ICC and sponsors, which have led to very few tickets being left for the public. Local state associations distribute tickets through varying means, some through clubs, or member bodies, with the number of public tickets always being squeezed out to a small percentage of the ground capacity.

The situation was further complicated for the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) by the demands of government and other agencies. A KSCA official said one team of tax officials arrived at the association office on Friday morning and announced that they wanted to conduct an enquiry. When asked whether they could come back later, the officials said the enquiry could not wait. In the end, though, the officials agreed to leave - with 20 tickets for Sunday's game.

With the public sale of tickets having been completed and tickets distributed to members and clubs, the KSCA is now tackling the many demands being made to them by the BCCI's 25 state associations who can ask for 25 tickets each. The 4500 individual members of the KSCA have also been given about 7000 tickets. There is some possibility that should a large number of public tickets be returned into the system through cancellations due to the last minute change of venue, more tickets may be put on online sale.