Unmindful of the swift-moving developments back home, the BCCI’s recce team in Pakistan continued its mission today in Karachi. The delegates — BCCI joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty, Director of Communication Amrit Mathur and Home Ministry representative Yashovardhan Azad — were briefed by top Karachi police officials. The team also saw presentations from Director-General Rangers, Major-General Javed Zia, the DIG of Karachi police and from the Karachi Sheraton Hotel. This was apart from the routine visit to National Stadium and assessment of the situation there. Interestingly, the Sheraton hotel, where the two teams would be staying, is located 17 kilometres from the stadium and could have been a cause of concern for the touring Indians. Sami-Ul-Hasan, media manager of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), travelling with the Indian delegates, told The Indian Express that the team was given a dress rehearsal of the security procedures put in place. ‘‘It took us just 12 minutes to get from hotel to stadium. Guards on top of highrise buildings and a proper rehearsal all the way was put in place for the team to see that all is well,’’ said Hasan. Hasan said a winding-up meeting had been scheduled for Sunday in Lahore where the PCB top brass, Federal interior secretary Tasneem Noorani and Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Menon would join the Indian delegates in assessing the tour preparations. It’s not been all work for the BCCI team. Today, they explored the city of Karachi, visiting the Qaid-E-Azam Bazaar and Karachi Mohatta. Yesterday, the delegates visted the ancient site of Taxila, close to Peshawar. The next stops for the team are Multan on Friday and Faisalabad on Saturday.
