India acted swiftly in addressing Pakistan's security concerns in sending their cricket team for the ICC WT20. According to ESPN Cricinfo, two letters — one from the West Bengal state government and another from Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar — were sent to the Pakistan government Friday.
The team got the green signal from the Pak interior ministry to travel to India.
The letters said there would be enough security measures in place for the mega-intense March 19 clash between India and Pakistan at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
It was claimed the letters would be analysed by Pakistan's interior ministry before the country takes the final call on sending the men's and women's cricket teams for the Twenty20 tournament in India.
Pakistani Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan had asked for a written assurance from India Thursday on the security measures for the Pakistan cricket team during their match in Kolkata. He had even asked what would happen if a stone was thrown from the gallery during the match.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she assured the BCCI of deploying adequate security during the match at the Eden Gardens. She tolked of writing a letter to India cricket veteran Sourav Ganguly, who is also the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president. Ganguly forwarded the letter from Banerjee, as well as the letter from Rajeev Kumar, to the ICC.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan cricket team was expected to arrive in India Friday. But since they are expected to fly to India only on Saturday morning, the CAB called off the ICC WT20 warm-up game between Pakistan and the Bengal team, scheduled for the afternoon.
