Mamata Banerjee writes to Ganguly assuring security for India-Pakistan tie

Kolkata, March 11: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday assured Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly that the state government would take necessary security measures for the India-Pakistan World T20 match on March 19.

In a letter, Banerjee assured about providingsecurity for the tie and asked Ganguly to convey her message to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“After the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh wrote a letter to union Home Minister Rajnath Singh against hosting the match in Dharamsala, there were two venues which were being actively looked at as alternatives – Cuttack and Kolkata,” officials said on Thursday.

“A senior minister closely associated with cricket passed on this message to the state government and the Bengal chief minister was quick to respond.”

Earlier on Wednesday, when the high-voltage clash was shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata citing security concerns, Banerjee had tweeted,”We are very very happy to host India-Pakistan match in Kolkata. All are always welcome to our beautiful city.” (IANS)