Teams arrive amid tight security

Bangalore, December 16: The Indian and English Cricket teams arrived here today amid heightened security, for the third and final test starting at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in this garden city on Wednesday.

As police kept a strict vigil, the players were frisked away in buses from the VIP gate at the Bangalore Airport on their arrival from Mumbai. Earlier, the general practice has been that the cricket teams checked out through the departure terminal.

Police said they were taking extra caution and security measures in view last week's terrorist attack on Parliament.

"We are not taking any chances", Karnataka Director General of Police V V Bhaskar said. "The threat perception regarding the match is not that much as we are not playing against a country hostile to us, but there will be a large congregation."

India is leading the test series 1-0, after the win in Mohali and draw in the second test at Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, sources in the Karnataka State Cricket Association said the response to ticket sales, including online booking, has so far been lukewarm but they expected it to pick up from today.