Despite holiday rush,crowd well managed this time

Some lined up even two hours after the match started,even though the gates were closed.

Besides local fans,several foreigners and the members of the Chinese national women cricket squad,which was currently honing its skills at Mohali stadium,were also in attendance to cheer their respective teams.

Inside the stadium,the crowd’s exuberance behind the sightscreen caused a short delay in the game.

Three-tier security and extensive barricading stretching up to 2.5 km radius of the stadium,and 1,576 police personnel helped in the peaceful conduct of the match.

“We managed to control the large crowd with minimum force and maximum arrangements,” said Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

Most police officials to whom Newsline spoke sounded relieved with the smooth management of crowd this time,unlike previous years when utter chaos used to prevail.

Navjot Kaur,who along with her family had come to watch the match all the way from Amritsar,said never before had they had such a hassle-free experience while watching a cricket match.

Also in the crowd were 2,000 school students ferried from rural areas across Punjab under a joint initiative of the PCA and the state government. One such student,Harpreet from Bathinda,was so happy to be visiting the stadium for the first time that he was dancing on way to the stands.

SIDELIGHTS
* A group of Australian girls cried for help outside Gate number 6 when few youngsters in the heavy rush misbehaved with them
* Business in Phase IX and X markets came to a virtual close following the unprecedented security arrangements. Though the stadium neighbours were given special passes for free access from extensive barricading,most of them faced hardships due to vehicles parked in front of their houses and cops taking positions on their rooftops.
* Some people were seen selling tickets ‘in black’ but the police registered no case in the matter.
* A handful of Shiv Sena (Bal Thackrey) activists held a demonstration at Phase VIII-IX light point before the start of the match to express their anguish over attack on Indians in Australia. They raised slogans against the Australian government and sought ban on matches with Australia till Indians were secured in Australia. They also tried to disrupt vehicular traffic on Mohali-Kharar National Highway-21 at Balongi and Kharar but the police managed to thwart their efforts.