Pakistan's batting mainstay Misbah-ul-Haq said yesterday that his team felt honoured by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to the top leaders of his country to watch the World Cup semi-final in Mohali
Pakistan's batting mainstay Misbah-ul-Haq said yesterday that his team felt "honoured" by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to the top leaders of his country to watch the World Cup semi-final in Mohali.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani will make a flying visit to Mohali to watch the India-Pakistan clash on Wednesday after accepting an invitation from Singh.
Misbah said his team would not be overwhelmed by the occasion as the two governments are using cricket diplomacy to restore normalcy in relations post 26/11.
"We are very happy our Prime Minister is coming to watch the match. We are touched by Indian Prime Minister's gesture. We are honoured by his inviting our Prime Minister," he said.
"There will be no pressure due to the presence of the VIPs. Actually we would be supported by our Prime Minister," he added.
This is the first time a Pakistan cricket team is playing in India since the terror attacks in Mumbai more than two years ago.
With the two heads of governments set to attend the match, security has been beefed up in the city.
About 3,000 police would patrol the match at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Wednesday, while 1,000 security personnel, including some from the Indian army, are already guarding the team hotel.
The security measures are so tight that the city resembles a fortress. The flip side of this is that the players' movement has been restricted and the visitors have been mostly confined to their hotel.
"I wish we were doing something out here, but we can't. The security is very tight. We can't go anywhere even if we want to," Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said.u00a0
Meanwhile, the players have been told that they would not be allowed to do their ritual of knocking at the boundary by the dressing room on the match day.
MiD DAY has learnt from sources that this decision was taken by Special Protection Group which has asked the players of both the teams to restrict their batting practice to the nets.
The SPG has reasoned that the players' presence at the boundary would draw the crowd from the galleries and that could prove a potential security threat.
