(MENAFN- Arab Times) The most anticipated match of the World Twenty20 between hosts India and arch-rivals Pakistan was shifted to Kolkata on Wednesday over concerns about security in the original venue for the March 19 clash at Dharamsala.
The marquee contest between the neighbours ran into trouble with Indian war veterans in the state of Himachal Pradesh, where Dharamsala is located, opposing the hosting of a match against Pakistan after militants killed seven security personnel in a Jan 2 attack on the Indian Air Force base at nearby Pathankot.
Pakistan said on Wednesday it had arrested several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which is suspected of masterminding the attack near Dharamsala and 25 km (16 miles) from the Pakistan border.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) delayed the departure of the men's and women's teams and sent a delegation to review security at Dharamsala, which boasts one of India's most beautiful stadiums with snow-capped mountains in the background.
After Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh's warning of possible disruption, the organisers took the "difficult decision" to shift the contest from the picturesque sleepy hill town to Kolkata's usually boisterous Eden Gardens.
"We looked at the security situation and we agreed in the end that the level of uncertainties that exist around that match was too great to take a risk," International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson told reporters.
"The safety and security of the event is of paramount importance to the ICC and we've taken into consideration the concerns shared with us by our security advisors as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board."
Richardson, however, all but ruled out a sanction against the state cricket association in Himachal Pradesh.
"We had to make this decision for safety and security reasons. I don't think it's reasonable to suggest that we'll be taking disciplinary action against the state association in that province."
The ICC official said the organisers were still awaiting an absolute assurance from Pakistan of their participation in the sixth edition of the tournament.
"The decision has just been conveyed to them" We are now obviously very hopeful that they would now board the plane and come to the event."
Top cricket countries have refused to tour Pakistan since 2009 when gunmen attacked a bus carrying a visiting Sri Lanka team near Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium.
Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, had said on Monday that there was no question of the country not playing in the tournament but that other venues needed to be considered to replace Dharamsala.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
Bilateral cricketing ties between the neighbours remain suspended after gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in a three-day rampage in 2008 which India blames on a Pakistani militant group.
Pakistan's cricket team have in the past received a hostile reception in Mumbai, venue of the second semi-final of the World Twenty20 which got underway on Tuesday, where members of a regional political party dug up a pitch in 1991 on the eve of a test match.
Richardson said if Pakistan reached the last four they would play their semi-final in New Delhi on March 30.
"If Pakistan makes the semi-finals, their semi-final won't be played in Mumbai," Richardson said.
"We've chosen the venues where Pakistan is due to play very carefully, taking into account safety and security issues."
Pakistan open their tournament on March 16 against a qualifying team in Kolkata before the match against India three days later. They will also face New Zealand on March 22 and Australia on March 25, with both of those matches in Mohali.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sought to downplay expectations about his side's prospects at the World Twenty20 despite starting as roaring favourites to win the title on home turf.
Dhoni's men have been on a roll since the start of the year, winning 10 out of 11 Twenty20 internationals, with the latest being a comprehensive title-winning triumph at the weekend over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup.
Their recent form even led former opener Virender Sehwag to proclaim that the world's number one team had a "99 percent" chance of winning the trophy for a second time.
India won the inaugural edition in 2007 and are gunning to become the tournament's only two-time winners.
Dhoni however refused to be pulled down by the weight of expectations, focusing instead on taking one game at a time.
"When it comes to expectations, I don't think it is any lesser than what it was in the 2011 World Cup," Dhoni, 34, said, referring to India's winning campaign at home that year in the 50-over format.
"We don't think too much about the expectations, the reason being it can put you under pressure," he said at a press conference in Kolkata.
"We are looking to make a slow and steady progress, rather than think too far ahead," said the wicket-keeping batsman, who is widely expected to retire at the end of the tournament.
India, hosting the format's world cup for the first time, boast a string of players in form, starting with captain-in-waiting Virat Kohli.
Kohli, who already captains India in Tests, has nine fifties in his last 14 Twenty20 innings, and averages over 50 in the format.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have also hit a purple patch while the bowlers have impressed too, including the wily off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
With the players looking well-settled, Dhoni said he saw no reason to tinker with team strategy.
"We are running on the sixth gear (although) I know the technology has gone into the eighth gear," he quipped.
"We have to keep our intensity up and focus should be there right from the very first ball.
"I think everything is set. I don't think there are any more gears left for us to operate."
India start their campaign against New Zealand next Tuesday followed by a much-awaited clash with archrivals Pakistan in the northern hill town of Dharamsala on March 19.
The final will be played on April 3 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
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