By IANS
Hyderabad : The Indian and Australian cricket teams arrived here Wednesday for the third one-day match to be played at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here Friday.
The members of both teams were escorted to a hotel amid tight security soon after their arrival at Begumpet Airport around 3 pm.
A few fans gathered at the airport to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars were disappointed as the teams boarded their special buses inside the airport premises and left from another exit.
India, trailing 0-1 after the defeat in Kochi on Tuesday, will take on the world champions in what promises to be an exciting encounter on Friday. The first match at Bangalore was abandoned due to rain.
Both teams will Thursday turn out for net practice at the stadium in Uppal on the city outskirts.
The police are making tight security arrangements for the match in view of the recent bomb blasts in the city. They have already taken control of the stadium, which will be hosting only its second one-day international so far.
Armed policemen have been deployed all around the stadium of 40,00 seating capacity. Bomb disposal and dog squads were seen checking every inch of the ground. About 10,000 policemen will be deployed on Friday as part of the elaborate security arrangements.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president and state Labour Minister G. Vinod denied allegations that the HCA was indulging in black marketing of tickets.
“There is no need for the HCA to indulge in such activities as it is earning significant profits out of sponsorships, and has spent Rs.35 crore (Rs.350 million) to build the stadium,” he contended.
He, however, justified the HCA move to set aside the bulk of the tickets for corporate sponsors, HCA members, former secretaries and other officials.
He claimed that 15,000 tickets were sold to the public for Friday’s match, against 8,000 sold for the India-South Africa match in 2005.