Security fears cast shadow over Pakistan's World Cup warm-up against NZ

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has requested that the September 29 World Cup warm-up game between Pakistan and New Zealand be rescheduled due to security concerns.

The Ganesh Visarjan and Milan-Un-Nabi festivals, which culminate on September 28, will require a large number of police officers to be deployed, and there will not be enough security personnel available for the warm-up game.

According to the Indian Express, the HCA has already sent an email to the BCCI executives, requesting the rescheduling of the warm-up game, but the BCCI have not yet responded.

Last month, the local authorities had also informally requested that the BCCI and ICC to reschedule the World Cup games on October 9 and 10, as they will not be able to provide security for both games. The police have informed the HCA that they will not be able to provide sufficient protection for the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka game on October 10 if the other game, New Zealand vs Netherlands, is played on the scheduled day (October 9).

Despite the HCA's request, the BCCI has not yet rescheduled the games.