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Chennai / New Delhi: Despite the bomb blasts in Hyderabad, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) have assured that the second Test, as of now, will be held as scheduled.
While the first Test is being held in Chennai, the second would be hosted by Hyderabad, from March 2. On behalf of the BCCI, senior official Rajeev Shukla has said that the Andhra Pradesh state government has given assurance of safety and security of the players.
“After the BCCI president (Narayanswamy Srinivasan) spoke to me, I spoke to the Union home secretary, who was in Hyderabad, and had a discussion with the chief minister and officials of state government. The chief minister apprised me that adequate security will be provided to the players as well as the spectators. So the Test match should not be shifted out of Hyderabad,” Shukla was quoted as saying by agencies from New Delhi.
On the other hand, CA chief executive James Sutherland, too, has assured that the Hyderabad Test is not in doubt at this stage. “We will make assessments in time, but at this stage there is no reason to doubt that what we have planned in Hyderabad will not go ahead,” Sutherland said in Chennai.
“We are very concerned to hear the news of the bomb blasts, but at the same time we are focussed. On the management side, we will wait for the next few days and make necessary assessments. But the focus here right now in Chennai is on cricket,” asserted Sutherland.
Sutherland said it was too early to express fears as he is “comfortable” with the security being provided to the Australian cricketers. “We work closely with relevant authorities in taking advice from them. I think it’s premature to be making assessments on whether Hyderabad can host the match, but my expectation would be that everything will go ahead as planned,” he stressed.
“I am very comfortable with the security arrangements. From our reports after talking to our security guys, everything has gone absolutely to plan,” he said.
Sutherland also confirmed that none of the Australian players have expressed any security fears after the blasts. “No player has indicated any concern at the moment. The players are very focussed right now on this Test match in Chennai and the management will do what they need to do; taking relevant advice, working with the authorities here in Chennai and in other parts, including the Australian government,” he said.
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