Click to play videoNew Delhi: It doesn’t get any bigger than this – India versus Pakistan, and that’s the ultimate delight for cricket buffs.
With an increase in the number of Indo-Pak cricketing encounters, spectator interest has risen as well, but this time the Indian Government has decided not to get bowled over by the Pakistani fans, who are being denied their visa power. This time the number of visas are being restricted per match.
“It is completely upto the High Commission and the External Affairs Ministry on how many visas they wish to grant. Security issues have to be looked into,” Vice-President, BCCI, Rajiv Shukla said.
The main reason behind the decision is a lurking fear that terrorists might use this opportunity to enter Indian territory as cricket fans.
In 2005, when the Pakistani team came to India 1,000 visas were issued to Pakistani fans per match. By the time the tour finished, nine had gone missing and of these only two have been arrested so far. So this time, only 250 visas are being issued per match.
"Our hostility with Pakistan has not reduced. People might use this as an opportunity to target us,” former joint director of the Intelligence Bureau, MK Dhar said.
CNN-IBN has also learnt that the movement of all Pakistani fans will be monitored by the security agencies during the series.
However, all these extra covers might just make Pakistani fans say that maybe this is just not cricket.
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