Published 18:03 IST, January 4th 2020
Assam Cricket Association bans posters, banners in stadium for 1st T20 against Sri Lanka
No posters, banners, placards or anything that can be used as a background for text messages will be allowed inside the stadium in Guwahati, Assam on Sunday
Ahead of the first T20 against Sri Lanka on Sunday in Guwahati, Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Secretary Devajit Saikia on Saturday said that no other item except mobile phones and purse will be allowed inside the stadium for the match. As a result, no posters, banners, placards or anything that can be used as a background for text messages will be allowed inside the stadium on Sunday.
'We have to be prepared'
The ACA secretary assured that the decision to bar posters in the stadium has nothing to do with the anti-CAA protests, which it was speculated to be about. “Everybody is concerned, not just the people of Assam. This is an international event and will have heightened security measures. We have to be prepared.” Saikia clarified. The Secretary added that placards showing ‘W’, ‘4’ and ‘6’ will also not be allowed as they could be used for surrogate advertisements.
The ACA secretary also said that the decision to ban posters is not because of the protests but because of the end of an arrangement between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and a beverage company, information of which the ACA got around a week back.
Bumrah shatters the training stumps during practice session
While the Indian players were training in Guwahati ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka which will be played on Monday, Jasprit Bumrah seemed to be more aggressive during the session as he bowled a fiery delivery that shattered all the training stumps. The video of this wonderful display was posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their official Twitter handle.
T20 Series against Sri Lanka
India will face Sri Lanka in a three-match T20 series beginning on Sunday in Guwahati. The second and third T20s are set to be played in Indore and Pune respectively. Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is all set to feature for the Men in Blue after a period of four months of being sidelined due to injury. However, opener Rohit Sharma has been rested for the series to efficiently manage his workload.
India Squad: Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and Jasprit Bumrah
Updated 18:03 IST, January 4th 2020