Tight security stops even players at entrance

KARACHI: After being crushed on the field by Pakistan and India, the Hong Kong cricket team learnt through another way that they still have a long way to go before they can be class themselves among the top cricketers of the world.
  
For around 15 minutes, the Hong Kong players were made to wait outside a special enclosure at the national stadium as no one in authority knew them nor had any information about where they should be seated for the Pakistan-India match.
    
The Hong Kong players reached the ground in a group with all of them wearing Asia Cup accreditation cards with clear "All Areas" movement marked on them.
    
But when these players tried to go into the enclosure in the main building to watch the match they were stopped by security and administration officials.
    
It took a lot of convincing by their liaison officer that the Hong Kong players were allowed to sit in the enclosure but to no avail.
    
Finally, the players were allowed in only after the matter was brought to the notice of a top ranking Pakistan Board official who directed the security and administration officials to allow them to sit in the enclosure.
    
But the Hong Kong players very new to international cricket didn't waste their time as they moved around watching the portraits of players put up in the hall.
    
The security has been so tight for the match that even a senior board official was stopped on Thursday at the main entrance of the stadium as he didn't have a proper card.
    
The administration after a long time have handed control of security arrangements to the police and elite commandoes for the match.