Hyderabad, Sep 24 (IANS): Considering the unsavoury incidents over ticket sales a couple of days ago, the Hyderabad police are taking no chances and have made elaborate arrangements to provide tight security for Sunday's third and series-deciding Twenty20 International (T20I) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal here.
A stampede-like situation occurred on Thursday when thousands of fans had gathered at the Hyderabad Gymkhana to buy offline tickets. The police had to take some strong measures to control the crowd.
The police are expecting a crowd of nearly 40,000 people for the crucial game on Sunday and will be deploying around 2500 police personnel to guard, facilitate the movement of players, monitor traffic and ensure smooth entry and exit of the spectators.
According to reports in the local media, the local police have issued a list of prohibited items -- pets, eatables, cigarettes, video cameras, laptops, lighters, matchboxes, firecrackers, selfie sticks, sharp objects, helmets, backpacks, alcohol and drugs -- that will not be allowed into the stadium. High-intensity scanners have been installed at the stadium to ensure nobody carries prohibited material into the stadium.
Though mobile phones will be allowed into the stadium, spectators can't carry power banks and chargers into the stadium.
The local police will also deploy separate teams to monitor the crowd using a strong CCTV network to monitor the crowd inside and around the stadium.
"A joint command and control centre has been set up at the stadium to monitor surveillance cameras and the footage will be supervised by a team of police at the stadium and also at the recently inaugurated Integrated Command and Control Center in Banjara Hills," Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat was quoted as saying in the local media.
He added that anti-sabotage teams will be on the ground to avoid any untoward incident.
Personnel from the State Armed Reserve police, Special Branch, central crime station, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, SHE teams, traffic, and law and order wings are part of the security machinery. Medical and fire department teams will also be stationed at the venue for emergencies.
The teams reached Hyderabad in the evening from Nagpur where they played the second T20I which was truncated to an 8-over-a-side affair because of the wet outfield that made play risky for the players. India won the match by six wickets to level the series 1-1. Australia had won the first match at Mohali.