Commando-care for Eden Gardens

CALCUTTA, JAN 20: Eden Gardens must be the most important address in the world of cricket after Lord8217;s. India8217;s biggest cricket stadium now houses the Cricket Association of Bengal8217;s office, the Board of Control for Cricket in India office and a working office of the International Cricket Council. With the shifting of the BCCI office to the Eden Gardens, Calcutta is again at the centre of India cricket.

Perhaps for the first time in history, commandos have been deployed to protect a cricket stadium much before the actual game has begun. This step has been taken after the almost non-existent Shiv Sena unit of West Bengal threatened to disrupt the India-Pakistan match of the Asian Test Championships by sending suicide squads. The stadium is surrounded by police and many of them are inside the ground too, keeping a close eye on the pitch. The police officials have also informed that plainclothesmen are moving around the stadium. Dalmiya himself said that he was quite satisfied with the security arrangementsfor Eden Gardens. Even the state Chief Minister Jyoti Basu is taking an active interest and has warned Shiv Sena against disrupting play.

The feeble presence of Shiv Sena in the state might also have played a role in deciding on Calcutta as a safe centre. The Shiv Sena, after a lot of fanfare, managed to collect only 22 followers for their demonstration outside Dalmiya8217;s house. The police acted promptly to arrest the group.

Apart from that, Eden Gardens has a state-of-the-art infrastructure for administrative affairs which will help BCCI8217;s functioning and the fact that Dalmiya was the board secretary before Lele took over, should be an advantage as the CAB office staff are familiar with the activities of the BCCI.

None of the boards of other countries, apart from those directly affected, have approached the ICC for information regarding the situation in India, Dalmiya informed. 8220;Things are not so bad yet,8221; the ICC president said. 8220;The two boards are handling the situation well and others need not getinvolved.8221;

It is still not clear how long the BCCI headquarters will stay at the Eden Gardens. 8220;No idea,8221; Dalmiya said when asked. The BCCI will surely assess the situation properly and act only after they are convinced that the Shiv Sena threat no longer exists.