India vs SA ODI: Rajkot Gear Up to Block Hardik Patel Protest

Rajkot police and Rajkot Cricket Association are leaving no stone unturned to ensure there is no commotion during the third one-day worldwide match of the Gandhi-Mandela series to be played at Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium on October 18.

The Patels threatened to cordon off Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Khanderi village, as tickets were allegedly not sold to his community members.

Hardik Patel, one of the dominant leaders of the protest, had earlier announced that they plan to do a slogan protest during the match whenever a wicket falls or a boundary is hit, following which the SCA has been cautious of selling wickets to any ID-card holder who belongs to the Patidars.

Hardik accused India’s ruling political party, the BJP, of playing politics over the cricket match. “If we are not issued tickets we would create roadblocks on the way to the stadium and not allow teams to travel from their hotel to stadium”, Patel said in a video message released on social media.

“The (BJP) Government was saying till now that the match should not be turned into an agitation venue, but now this government is itself playing politics over the match”, he said.

“SCA should clarify why they declared all tickets were sold even though many tickets yet remain unsold”, Hardik, convener of PAAS, said. Hardik showdowns the govt with the demand of quota for Patel group.

Meanwhile, the Indian cricket team has begun their practice ahead of the match. Apart from those five SPs, 24 deputy superintendents of police, 32 police inspectors, 183 police sub inspectors, five women police sub inspectors, 1210 constables, 50 traffic police and 171 lady police constables will be deployed. A three-tier security has been put in place at the stadium in view of caste crusader, Hardik Patel’s warning to hold protests outside the stadium, demanding reservation in the government jobs and educational institutions for the Patel community.