City teeming with VVIPs, Pak team stranded at airport

The Pakistan cricket team, which arrived in Ahmedabad Wednesday ahead of the T20 match to be played on Friday, was left stranded for about 45 minutes at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport since no one from Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) was present at the domestic terminal to receive them when they landed here around 1.30 pm, sources said.

According to airport officials, soon after the team landed in a Jet Airways light, the players boarded an airport authority's bus that took them outside the VVIP entry gate located at Air Traffic Controller's building. They were supposed to board another private bus arranged by the GCA. However, there was no one present to receive the team.

"For about half-an-hour, the team was in the bus outside the gate. Some of the players got out and were found roaming around the gate. In no time, the place was crowded with curious onlookers and chaos prevailed," said a security officer at the airport.

Sources said the airport authority officials brought the bus inside the airport apron area again and left the team in the security of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The team had to wait for about 45 minutes there on.

According to GCA secretary Rajesh Patel, the lapse happened due to clash of timing between the arrival of Pakistan team and the departure of VVIP guests who were leaving after attending Chief Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

"Our liaison officers were present at the airport. The delay happened due to traffic congestion caused by the movement of VVIPs returning from Modi's function," Patel added.

Chaos at Motera Stadium

Chaos prevailed at Motera Stadium, where T20 match between India and Pakistan will be played on Friday. Hundreds of people had lined up there since early morning to purchase their tickets.

Poor arrangements made by the GCA and the traffic snarl in and around Motera stadium led to a massive chaos.

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