Kiwis give all clear to Motera

New Zealand cricket team is ‘‘more than happy’’ to play at Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium on their forthcoming tour to ...

New Zealand cricket team is ‘‘more than happy’’ to play at Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium on their forthcoming tour to India. This was revealed by New Zealand team manager Lindsay Crocker who was on a three-day ‘‘quiet’’ visit to India to ‘‘tie-up loose ends’’.

Unlike all the reports of a high-profile visit of a security team, Crocker was the lone man deputed by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to talk to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and he came and left without visiting any cricket ground.

Incidentally NZC CEO Martin Snedden had ‘‘directly briefed’’ Crocker about this visit. Crocker flew in on Wednesday into New Delhi and then headed straight to Kolkata to meet BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, before leaving on Saturday afternoon from Delhi.

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When contacted by The Indian Express, Crocker, who was camping in Singapore, denied reports about NZC being unhappy with Motera. ‘‘There is no truth in this. We are more than happy to be playing at Ahmedabad.’’

Incidentally Crocker’s views were shared by NZC CEO Martin Snedden who had earlier told The Indian Express that ‘‘Security was an issue, but he had been assured by Indian government.’’

More specifically Crocker informed that during his interaction with Dalmiya, they ‘‘went through the whole tour itinerary’’.

‘‘This was just a normal pre-visit tour. I was on my way from UK so it made sense for me fly in and meet the Indian board officials before the tour.’’

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