The long trail of terror continues to haunt Australia's subcontinental sojourns. Ricky Ponting's Australians had a scrappy start to their first competitive outing on Saturday but they were more shook up by news of yet another bomb blast in Delhi, which has cast a shadow of doubt over the third Test of the series scheduled to be held at the Kotla from October 29 to November 2.
Although news filtered in late in the evening and the Aussie camp failed to relate to their Cricket Australia bosses back home any specific inputs on the altered security scenario, they went into an immediate huddle at the team hotel. Discussions on the matter between security consultant Frank Dimasi, tour manager Steve Bernard and team security staff continued through the night. An independent security review is expected to be undertaken.
Officially, though, the Aussies are, for now, avoiding any expression of panic. "It's late in Australia and I don't think we will receive any instructions before Sunday morning," media manager Matthew Slade told TOI.
"But we are sure to have a security briefing in the morning. I'm not saying it's a concern at the moment, or that there could a request for a possible venue change, or other issues. We'll come to know soon."
A BCCI official said it wouldn't be surprising if the Aussies sought a change of tour plans, but said the board was preferring to "wait and watch" for the moment.
"Our security advisors will liaise with administrators in Australia," said batsman Simon Katich following a briefing on the blast after the conclusion of the first day's play in the practice game against a Rajasthan XI side. "It hasn't sunk in yet for the players. The details of the blast are sketchy," he said.
With the previous serial Delhi blasts of Sept 13 already heightening security concerns even before their arrival, the Australians have, since last Monday, been shrouded here in a web of round-the-clock surveillance systems, emergency response teams, special protection groups and an impressive array of Rajasthan police personnel.
The team hotel is a fortress, with even the lobby being kept out of bounds for the media or casual visitors. It remains to be seen what additional measures they can ask for after this.
A Delhi and District Cricket official told TOI that the blast would heavily alter security plans. "We were having trouble organising the kind of security we wanted since the match immediately follows Diwali," he said, "Now we hope our demands will be met. But I won't be surprised if the Aussies decide to head somewhere else."
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