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The Englishmen have landed

Tight security arrangements all around

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

THUMBS UP, INDEED! England captain Kevin Pietersen presents a cheerful picture on arrival at the Chennai airport on Monday.

Chennai: Overcoming the terror scare, the England cricket team returned here on Monday in two batches to resume its Indian tour which was interrupted by the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The full-strength 16-member team, led by Kevin Pietersen, landed here from the UAE, the first batch arrived from Abu Dhabi followed by another from Dubai within 20 minutes of each other. The contingent consists of 28 people, including support staff.

The team, which left India on November 28 after abandoning the last two of the seven-match ODI series, will play the first Test here from Thursday at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium which replaced Mumbai as the venue.

The second Test is scheduled to be held at Mohali from December 19 although England has to formally confirm it.

Tight security arrangements had been made at the airport for the arrival of the team which got the final go-ahead to tour India late last night following the security clearance from the England and Wales Cricket Board’s security advisor Reg Dickason.

Immediately on arrival, the team was taken out of the airport from a separate gate and driven straight to the hotel where foolproof security cover had been provided.

The English players are scheduled to have a practice session on Tuesday and will get just two days to get acclimatised to the conditions before the first Test gets underway.

The England players were training in Abu Dhabi pending the security clearance. Dickason’s report had found India to be safe, paving the decks for the resumption of cricketing activities.

The players were given a detailed feedback on the security arrangements that would be put in place for the series. After nearly two hours of discussions at the team hotel in Abu Dhabi involving players, ECB’s managing director Hugh Morris and Professional Cricketers Association (EPCA) Chief Executive Sean Morris and Dickason, it was announced that the Test series would go ahead as per schedule.

Earlier, Andrew Flintoff said no player had been arm-twisted to play in the Test series and it was a completely unanimous decision by the team

Among one of those initially reluctant to tour India, Flintoff said all his teammates made their point before they unanimously decided to go ahead with the tour.

“It’s been a difficult last three days. Throughout, everyone has voiced their opinion, whether they be junior or senior players. Everyone has decided to go, so to say it was just about the senior players would be wrong,” the former captain said.

Apart from Flintoff, pacer Steve Harmison and off-spinner Graeme Swann had made public their reluctance to tour India on security grounds.

Flintoff seemed to have already focussed himself for the two-match Test series starting in Chennai on December 11 and said doing well against an in-form India would be a challenge for the squad.

“If you win anything in India I think you are doing well,” said Flintoff. — PTI

Fully prepared

Our Principal Correspondent adds:

Security has been beefed up to a considerable extent at the hotels where the Indian and England teams are staying. “All kinds of Commandos such as Special Action Group (SAG), Quick Reaction Team (QRT) and others have been pressed into service,” said a senior police official in-charge of one of the hotels.

“They will be working round the clock. We are fully equipped,” he said.

He said frisking was being done at every stage.

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