India-Lanka T20I: Everything under control at Guwahati, assures ACA chief

New Delhi: Having enjoyed a well-earned break coming into the new year, Virat Kohli's men are set to get back onto the field when they take on Sri Lanka at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday in the first of three Twenty20 International (T20I)s. And considering the security issues there were in the wake of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act - the BCCI as well as the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) were keeping a close eye on the situation. But all is under control now as per ACA president Romen Dutta.

Speaking to IANS, Dutta said that the police have been handed the responsibility of managing the security and everything is under control.

"Yes, there was some unrest before, but all is under control now. We have handed over the stadium and all other responsibility with regards to the two teams to the police and they are keeping an eye to ensure that everything is under control," he said.

Surprisingly though, he said that the Indian players will be arriving only on Friday morning whereas members in the Indian team management confirmed that they are assembling on Thursday night itself.

"The Indian team will come tomorrow (Friday) morning," Dutta said.

But a member of the Indian team said: "We are assembling tonight in Guwahati."

The Indian team is focusing more on playing T20Is as they gear up for the World T20 to be held in Australia later this year. And it all starts with the series against Lanka. Keeping in mind the workload on senior players like Rohit Sharma, the Indian selectors decided to give the limited-overs vice-captain a break from the series and his position in the team has gone to opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Before this, regular skipper Kohli was given a break during the T20I series against Bangladesh and Rohit led the team. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah too will return to the team during the Lanka series after recovering from a stress fracture that kept him out of action after India's tour of West Indies.