Centurion: World Cup organisers are not taking any chances for Saturday's high- voltage India-Pakistan Group 'A' clash arranging foolproof security measures to deal with any untoward incident.

Emotions could run high when the arch rivals face each other for the first time in a One-day match after a gap of over two years and tournament security chief Patrick Ronan said he wanted the game to be finished on a peaceful note like other matches of the mega event so far.

"We boost our security personnel in high pressure games to deal with unlikely situations. India and Pakistan game, you could say, is one of those."

The security personnel have carefully studied the behavioural pattern of Indian and Pakistani fans in the first three weeks of the World Cup and given them high marks but they are aware it could be hugely misleading if their emotional strings are stirred.

"So far they have been great additions to the spectacle of the game," said Ronan adding "but we do have contingency plans in place to deal with whatever arises."

The emotion-filled matches between the two sides have several times seen crowd disturbances spoiling the spectacle in the middle and the most infamous one happened four years back when spectators were chased away from the stadium by police in order to let the 1999 Kolkata Test continue.

The last World Cup in England also witnessed some unsavoury incidents when Pakistan fans burnt the Indian tricolours and the verbal exchanges between the two teams threatened to spin out of control.

Ronan's security staff is well-versed to deal with extreme situations though it is yet to be tested till now in the World Cup.

The security chief was, however, confident that such a situation would not arise and hoped the match would go off as peacefully as the one in Asia Cup in Dhaka in June 2000, the last time the two sides clashed on a cricket field.

The World Cup organisers attended the Sydney Olympics and incorporated quite a few ideas in the South African plan to ensure foolproof security during the entire tournament.

The security personnel for the tournament also attended Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the soccer World Cup to make sure the cricket event goes off without any incident.

"I think it's fair to say this is as comprehensive as a plan gets," Ronan said. "So far, we haven't had to curb off any serious threats, and even after all the talk of Zimbabwe and Kenya, everything has gone off without a hitch.

"In some cases, when Zimbabwe or Kenya were short on resources the (South African) government pitched in to help. It has been a team effort, even across different countries."

Expressing disappointment over England and New Zealand's decision to forfeit their matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya respectively, Ronan said the pull-outs may well haunt these sides as the tournament progresses.

"We are just hoping that because of the great distances the respective fans have travelled to watch these games that goodwill will prevail," said Ronan.

"And if the only good thing people talk afterwards is the great game of cricket, we would have done our job."

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