Teams, sans Dhoni, arrive for Cuttack ODI

Caution and comfort set the order of the day. As the India and Sri Lanka teams arrived here for the third ODI at Cuttack on December 21, team members were accorded a grand welcome. But police left no stone unturned for safety and security of the players. Commandos armed with AK-47 escorted the team buses to hotel Mayfair Lagoon as police personnel were deployed along the entire 5 km distance from the Biju Patanik airport to the hotel, where players were greeted with roses and traditional tilaks. The absence of India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been handed out a two-match ban for slow over rate, dampened the enthusiasm of the fans, who turned up in large numbers to see the stars. Keeping in mind the manhandling of the then Team India coach Greg Chappell and the recent terrorist attack on the Lankan cricketers in Pakistan, city police made the players stay put to the confines of the hotel. This meant no evening outs for the cricketers. Request to join a dinner party, traditionally hosted by Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) president and former National selector Ranjib Biswal was already turned down by the cops. Temperamental spinner Harbhajan Singh too was denied permission to go out for shopping. One of the OCA vice-presidents, who manages to take some of the cricket stars to his home every time Team India stays here, had no luck this time. According to OCA sources, the Lankan team would travel to Cuttack for their nets session on Sunday morning, while stand-in captain India Virender Sehwag and his teammates would have their work out in the afternoon.