Pak team visits India-Pak opening tie venue

Guwahati, Sep 22 (UNI) A two-member delegation of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today visited the venue of the opening ODI of Pakistan's visits to India in Novmber and inspected the security and other arrangements.

India will take on arch rival Pakistan on November 5 in the opening tie of the five-match ODI series in Guwahati during the neighbouring team's visit.

PCB Operation Director Zakir Khan and top security expert Sohail Khan said they would present the report at the BCCI office at Mumbai. ''It is too early to say anything. We have seen the venue, the hotels and also discussed the security arrangements. We will submit our report in Mumbai,'' they said.

S Naik of the BCCI also accompanied the Pakistani delegation.

The insurgency problem and the crowd disturbance that followed the abandonment of the India-England match in April last year had cast security apprehensions on the upcoming ODI.

Pakistan had privately tried to avoid playing in Guwahati, citing long travel distance as the chief reason. But the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) managed to convince the BCCI to get the match.

''The security is purely a matter of the Union Home Ministry and Assam Police will play a supportive role. But we are not leaving anything to chance on our part,'' said ACA secretary Bikash Barua.

UNI