Pak players unwind ahead of crucial third test

BANGALORE: After fighting back in the Kolkata test, Pakistani players spent some time unwinding themselves ahead of the crucial final encounter of the three-match series starting on Saturday.

Skipper Shoaib Malik drove to upmarket Koramangala area and watched hit movie 'Jab We Met', featuring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, in a multiplex on Wednesday night.

On the way, he dropped in at a restaurent that specialises in Pakistani and Afghani cuisine, on the Infantry Road.

Some of his team-mates, including Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt, went for John Abraham-starrer, 'Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal' at the same PVR Cinemas. Some others chose to closet themselves in the plush team hotel.

"Pakistan players took a day's off yesterday", a team official said.

In fact, as they arrived on Wednesday from Kolkata, where the test was drawn, they were greeted by overcast skies, as the city experienced the chill of the winter with temperature dipping to 19 degree celsius in the afternoon.

Security was tight at the team hotel. In and around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, city police plan to deploy a posse of 2,250 personnel, and set up a disaster management cell to meet any eventuality, official sources said.