Babar Azam‘s Pakistan team will take on the Netherlands (PAK vs NED) on October 6 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad as both teams get their World Cup 2023 campaigns underway on Friday.
For this encounter, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has heavily beefed up the security to prevent any undesired incident.
According to a report by InsideSport, over 1,500 policemen will be present in and around the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. There will also be a bomb squad present at the venue.
According to a press release from Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, highly measured arrangements have been made by the HCA and the Hyderabad police to ensure this game and Pakistan’s next match against Sri Lanka on October 10 are played under large security. Due to security concerns, Pakistan’s warm-up matches here in Hyderabad were played behind closed doors with only a few spectators allowed.
[PAK vs NED]: 360 CCTV cameras installed at Rajiv Gandhi stadium
Different departments of police have been called up, like the security wing, Traffic, Law and order, TSSP, AR force, SOT, CCS, She Team, Mounted Police, Vajra, fire tenders, and fire departments.
“A total of about 1500 Police persons are deployed for bandobust. Gate No.1 is only for players, others are not allowed. Spectators are allowed through gates as per their ticketing and the evacuation plan is ready for any emergency situation. In and around the stadium, a total of 360 CCTV cameras are installed including the places at vehicle checkpoints, and parking places to cover the entire area. A Joint command & control room is also established at Southside at G-6 Box to monitor all the CCTV footage for taking immediate action,” InsideSport said in a report.
For the safety of women spectators, SHE Teams/Anti-Eve-Teasing teams are also called-up and they will patrol in and around the stadium in order to control any sort of eve teasing.
Meanwhile, ahead of the PAK vs NED game, Pakistan’s Director of Cricket Mickey Arthur recently spoke on the form of Pakistan spinners, in particular Shadab Khan. Arthur said: “The quality of the players that we have in those positions is undoubted. So, it’s about making sure that those guys are in a great space technically, they’re in a great space mentally, and then just hopefully that they click tomorrow and then from there the confidence just grows and grows and grows. So, I’ve got no worry around the skills of the players we have. The skills there are exceptional”
