BHUBANESWAR: After the stupendous run chase by Virat Kohli and Co at Pune, the second ODI between India and England at Cuttack holds out great promise. With tickets sold out, it is going to be a packed house but the lush green Barabati Stadium will see unprecedented arrangements since the last game between India and South Africa had a disastrous end, thanks to bad crowd behaviour and poor security measures.
As eager fans of the Twin City await for the two teams to land in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, security has been beefed up in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Twin City Police Commissioner YB Khurania, who went to Cuttack to take stock of the arrangements, said 63 platoons of police force would be deployed at the stadium during the second ODI. While 300 officers would be pressed in, a unit of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and a special unit will also be on job.
For the first time, the CCTV cameras have been fitted inside the stadium. As many as 63 CCTV and four pan-tilt-zoom cameras have been installed to keep an eye on the crowd and mischief makers from a central control room.
Seats have been numbered and no water bottles or packets will be allowed inside the stadium. For drinking water, provisions have been made in the galleries while spectators can use in-out passes to go out to specified areas to pick up water and food.
''The spectators are also being requested to enjoy the match and not indulge in disruptive activities,'' the Police Commissioner said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Commissionerate Police carried out rehearsals of the movement of players' buses from Biju Patnaik International Airport to Mayfair Hotel where both the teams would put up. As many as 87 rooms have been booked for both the teams and their support staff.
In fact, the two teams were supposed to reach two days ahead of the game but non-availability of adequate hotel rooms beacuse of the ongoing wedding season prompted the two teams to stay back at Pune.
While the two teams are expected to reach the City around 12.30 pm, they could go to Cuttack for practice sessions though the police have not yet been informed about the schedule. ''We have made adequate route lining plans for the teams to go to Barabati for nets sessions. Pilots, escorts and security vehicles would accompany them all the way from the Capital and back,'' the Police Commissioner said.
Security at Mayfair Hotel has also been beefed up and a control centre set up. The roads leading to the hotel has been barricaded. In Bhubaneswar, 11 platoon force and a special unit apart from traffic squads would remain present.