Even as almost everyone cries hoarse about heightened security, the cricketers appear completely at ease.
M.S. Dhoni and Jacques Kallis spent little time on the subject even as they trained in front of a crowd of police and private security personnel and sniffer dogs.
“Security doesn’t bother us at all. We are used to it and once we are inside the ground, it doesn’t affect us whether there are 200 security personnel or 400. Inside, it’s just the eleven fielders, two batsmen and two umpires,” said Dhoni.
Kallis was equally nonchalant. “We have been advised by the security personnel that it’s as good as it gets,” he said. “So all we are thinking about is playing some good cricket.”
Security agencies, however, are taking no chances. Police are checking every vehicle entering the city and taking down registration numbers. CCTVs have been installed on all the routes into the city to allow police to keep a check on vehicles from a distance.
At the stadium itself, a four-stage security set up is in place. “Security has been tightened to this level for the first time here. We have deployed adequate personnel and there’s no problem,” said I. B. L. Soni, Inspector General of Police.