We feel totally safe in Hyderebad, says Warner

Hyderabad : Australia’s dimunitive opener David Warner said he felt safe in the city despite heightened security measures after last week’s twin bombings that left 15 dead and more than 100 injured.

Despite concerns, the Indian cricket board did not shift the second Test from Hyderabad and the city’s police commissioner has assured unprecedented security levels.

The road that leads from the team hotel to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium was completely sanitised. Some 2,000 security personnel – including five platoons of armed forces and more than 1,400 police – have been deployed at the stadium.

The security has acted as a balm for the Australian team.

“I feel totally safe any time I come to India, with the security that we’ve got and the stuff that’s in place. I think they didn’t really want anyone on the roads to and from the ground but that’s virtually impossible with 10 million people living in Hyderabad,” Warner was quoted as saying by the Australian media.

“The stuff that’s going on out of our control is what it is. It’s what happens sometimes in these places and you’ve just got to deal with it.”

Warner is not a newcomer to India but he is on his first Test tour.

“Obviously it’s not ideal to come here in these situations and seeing people being injured and killed is disappointing and very sad but, in hindsight, I don’t think they had another venue to play at,” Warner told Sky Sports Radio.

“We’re here to play cricket, that’s our job and we’ve just got to get on with it.”

More than 60 CCTV cameras have been installed at vehicle check points in the city and mobile phones, bags, banners and cameras have been banned inside the stadium.