Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, Jan. 18: If Virat Kohli and Eoin Morgan have pitched themselves for a battle of supremacy tomorrow, Odisha Cricket Association is ready to avoid a repeat of a “water war” that had marred India’s T20 match against South Africa at Barabati Stadium on October 5, 2015.
India’s poor show in the October tie had led to fan unrest in gallery number four of the stadium. Angry with the home team’s performance, agitated spectators turned bottles into missiles and hurled them onto the field. Play had to be stalled briefly and South Africa finally emerged victorious.
With memories of the incident still fresh in the minds of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) officials, it has been decided to ban the entry of water bottles and water pouches into the stadium for tomorrow’s ODI.
The OCA, however, has made elaborate alternative arrangements to supply water to the spectators.
A voluntary organisation has been roped in to provide water to the fans. “While water tankers will be stationed in all the seven galleries and two special enclosures, around 150 volunteers will move around the gallery with trays full of water glasses for spectators,” said B.K. Nayak, chief executive officer of the OCA.
Apart from water bottles and pouches, spectators have been barred from carrying matchboxes, fruits, food packets or any items that can be used as potential missiles.
“Apart from banning the entry of water bottles and pouches into the stadium, the height of nets in front of stands has also been raised to 50ft,” Nayak said.
Players arrive
Players of both India and England reached Bhubaneswar today amid tight security. Hundreds of supporters had turned up at the airport to have a glimpse of the players.
After checking into their hotel in the afternoon, the teams headed for Cuttack for net practice. Enthusiastic fans followed the players to the team hotel but a tight ring of security was in place. Twenty-five platoons of police have been deployed in Bhubaneswar for the security of the players and traffic management.
“We were eagerly waiting for the departure of the bus carrying Indian players from the hotel to the stadium for practice session. Finally we were able to have a glimpse of a few players, including Dhoni and K.L Rahul,” said Debashish Das, a cricket fan.
Tight security
The police are making all effort to ensure smooth conduct of tomorrow’s ODI, the second in the three match series between India and England.
Sixty-three platoons of police, along with anti-terrorist squads, bomb disposal squads, rapid action force and quick response teams, will be deployed in and around the stadium during the match.
“More than 300 officers will supervise the security arrangements, while each gallery will have the presence of 100 cops,”
police commissioner Y.B. Khurania said.
A three-tier security check, along with a network of close-circuit television cameras (CCTV), will ensure foolproof safety measures during the match. Apart from cops, the OCA has hired 400 private security guards for deployment in the galleries and at entry and exit points of the stadium. With the OCA numbering the seats in the stadium, the spectator capacity has come down 45,500 to 43,000.
“Around 150 stationary CCTV cameras and four mobile pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras have been installed at various places. The PTZ cameras will keep an eye on the entire stadium and provide footage to police officials deployed at the security control room,” said Sanjeev Arora, deputy commissioner of police (Cuttack).
