Eager fans await India-Pakistan matches

India and Pakistan will soon resume their competitive cricket ties with the upcoming series. The two sides continued to play each other in World Cup competitions and at third country venues. But this is the first time in five years that Pakistani cricketers are visiting India for an exclusive competition between the two rival nations. And that five-year gap has just understandably intensified the excitement and anticipation of India's cricket fans. Pakistani cricket players have arrived in India to play their first official series in five years. The South Asian rivals will be playing three One Day Internationals and two Twenty20s, and it all begins on December 25. The last series between India and Pakistan held in either of the two home countries was in 2007-2008 when Pakistan visited India. But relations between the two countries soured after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 166 people were killed. India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attack. Soumil Patel, a cricket fan in Ahmedabad city, said: "Expectations from this will be a good cricket, good competition and also some good relationship which can be made up between the two countries. Cricket is the best thing, we can improve our relationship between both the countries." The matches will be played in five cities including Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Most Indian fans are hoping for a good competition and, of course, a victory for their home team in the much-awaited series. In southern Chennai city, eager fans waited in long queues to buy tickets for the match to be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on December 30. Nitesh, a cricket fan in Chennai city, said: he had waited nearly eight hours in the queue to buy his ticket. Wasim Mushtaq, a cricket fan in Chennai city, said: "This is a dream come true for me. I am just here to inquire about the tickets. Well, we are very excited about this match. Believe me or not, I am ready to remain here for the whole night to get the tickets." India is likely to issue 3,000 visas to Pakistani cricket fans attending their team's first cricket series in India after five years. The series is also likely to be a money spinner with private broadcaster ESPN demanding nearly US$18,000 for a 10-second advertising spot for T20s and US$11,000 for one-day matches. Meanwhile, police bomb squad officers and sniffer dogs combed Bangalore stadium on Monday as part of a massive security operation for the start of the first Pakistan cricket tour to India for five years. Hardline Indian nationalist organisations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena have both threatened to hold protests outside all the venues for the five-match series which begins in Bangalore on Tuesday evening. "As the governments of both the countries have agreed to hold the bilateral series, no organisation will be allowed to disrupt the match," Bangalore police commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji told reporters on the eve of the first match. An AFP reporter saw bomb squad officers carrying out a painstaking inspection with their dogs in and around the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, the capital of the southeastern state of Karnataka. As many as 5,000 security personnel, including a 100-member bomb squad, have been deployed to cover the match, fearing attempts to disrupt the game or even stage an attack. Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party based in Mumbai, has branded the tour a "national shame" and accused Indian cricket authorities of "betraying the country for sake of money". The same organisation dug up the wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla cricket ground in the capital New Delhi in 1999 ahead of an India-Pakistan Test although the match did go ahead. The Indian government has issued a record number of 3,000 visas to fans from Pakistan attending the series.