Players of Kings XI Punjab arrive at a hotel in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, May 4: The Kings XI Punjab team reached the city amidst tight security today to play their IPL matches in Cuttack on May 7 and 11.

The players, along with the support staff and team management of Punjab owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, reached Biju Patnaik airport around 12.40pm. Soon, city police led them to their hotel in tight security cordon with armed jawans guiding team bus and patrolling vans clearing roads.

A source in the police said that special security arrangements had been made around the hotel where the players were staying. The police team has set up a temporary camp near the hotel and an officer of the level of assistant commissioner of police is heading security arrangements there.

“We are satisfied with the security arrangement for the matches. It is world class,” said a security official of the franchisee. As many as 35 platoons of police have been deployed in and around the stadium and for escorting the players to the stadium and back to hotel.

At the hotel, the players were welcomed in a traditional manner. The hotel’s management said that they had prepared themselves for providing best possible hospitality to the players, support staff, management of Punjab team as well as the match officials.

“We are fully prepared to provide hospitality to the franchisee, its players and management staff. We welcomed them in our traditional manner and the players will enjoy their stay here,” said Soubhagya Mohapatra, chief executive officer of the hotel.

The Punjab team will go for net practice at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on May 6. The team, which is second in the points tally, has chosen Cuttack as one of its home grounds for this season and it will play two matches here on May 7 and May 11 against Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively.

In the United Arab Emirates round of IPL, Punjab managed to win all the five matches while lost its first match in IPL’s return to India to Mumbai Indians, which is at the bottom of the table.

A source in the Odisha Cricket Association said that for the first match on May 7, Chennai Super Kings team would arrive in Bhubaneswar on the day of the match and go straight to play the match at 8pm from their hotel.

IPL fever has gripped Cuttack and Bhubaneswar as almost all the tickets for the two matches have been sold out. However, cricket fans fear that Norwester might play spoilsport and disrupt the match. The local meteorological centre does not even rule out possibility of rain during the evening. “There are chances of rain at some places in the state. Normally, kalabaisakhi (Norwester ) causes such rain in the afternoon and evening during summer,” said a met official.