MS Dhoni is captaining India for the one last time in the first warm-up match between India and England at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) stadium in muMBAI. First, the Board of Control of India (BCCI) made sure the match is telecast live on television and then they opened the gate for free entry for the fans.
ESPNcricinfo gas reported that north and east stands of the CCI stadium will be open for the fans to see MS Dhoni leading ‘men in blue’ for the one last time in his career. The west stand is under renovation and hence will remain closed during the game.
The match starts at 1:30 pm on January 10. The decision to allow free entry for the fans has come a day after there was confusion about the status of the entry for the warm-up encounter. Various reports suggested that the Mumbai Police demanded close to INR 60 lakh for providing the security. The CCI had subsequently redirected the demand to the BCCI.
This is what the CCI officials had to say about MS Dhoni’s last match as India’s captain:
“There were only 40 policepersons who were set to be deployed initially. There are normally hardly 200-300 people for warm-up matches, but with Dhoni playing his last match as a captain, the game has become high-profile. So, more police personnel will have to be deployed; there will be around 300 policepersons now,” said the CCI official.
“The CCI gets only a grant of Rs 1 lakh per game from the BCCI and our expenses are generally reimbursed by the board. Even in this issue, the police dealt directly with the BCCI,” the official added.
