Summary Pakistan will start their World T20 campaign with a warm-up match against Sri Lanka today (Monday).
KOLKATA (Dunya News) – Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in their warm-up game today (Monday) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata ahead of the start of the main stage of the ICC World T20 2016.
The match will start at 2:30pm PST. On Sunday, the Green Shirts participated in a training session at the Eden Gardens under tight security.
Talking to media after the practice session, Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said that he was looking forward to playing in front of India s raucous crowds.
Afridi said his team had always been "physically and mentally" prepared for the tournament despite weeks of uncertainty over whether they would be allowed to travel to arch rivals India, hosts of the World T20.
"We have always enjoyed playing in India and have been loved by Indians crowds more than crowds back home in Pakistan. Cricket has always brought people together and I think politics should be kept away from cricket," Afridi said.
Earlier, Pakistani cricket team landed at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Saturday evening.
Extraordinary security arrangements were made at the airport prior to the Men in Green’s landing, which also involved the deployment of commandos and other personnel of the Indian military. Complete monitoring of the players was also carried out.
The team reached Taj Hotel from the airport where members of police and intelligence agencies were on-duty. It has been made mandatory to seek permission from the authorities in order to meet any member of the Pakistani side.
A list of members of extremist organizations has also been provided to security agencies that will be keeping track of their activities.
Tight security measures will be taken around the Eden Gardens cricket stadium where Pakistan is due to face Bangladesh in Super 10 Group 2 on March 16 and India on March 19.
The other two group matches will be played at Mohali. Pakistan will play against New Zealand in March 22 and Australia against March 25.
