"We will ensure that all the matches are held in a conducive environment," said Home Secretary B P Singh as several Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, came out heavily on the Centre for having failed to protect the Kotla pitch.

Singh has called a meeting tomorrow with the representatives of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to review the security arrangements for the forthcoming matches. The meeting will also be attended by senior police and intelligence officials, he said.

Bal Thackeray's Sena celebrated the destruction of the pitch today. Justifying the act, Sena MP Sarpotdar said that no cricket match with Pakistan would be allowed unless ISI-sponsored terrorism comes to an end. "The atmosphere in India is not conducive for suchthings. When terrorists backed by the ISI are killing our people how can we allow the Pakistani cricketers to play here?" Sarpotdar said.

In Mumbai, Sena spokesman Subhash Desai said: "By digging up the pitch at Ferozeshah Kotla, the Shiv Sainiks have only implemented the general policy announced by Bal Thackeray not to allow the Pakistan cricket team to play on Indian soil." Desai said that the Shiv Sainiks responsible for damaging the Kotla pitch were "real patriots".

Home Ministry officials in Delhi said that four policemen who did not stop the Shiv Sainiks from digging up Kotla pitch have been placed under suspension after Home Minister L K Advani expressed his concern over the incident.

Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi, deploring the Sena's vandalism, said the party had exhibited a lunatic fringe of fascism at Kotla ground last night.Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit charged the police with being insensitive to the threat, especially in the light of certain statements emanating from Mumbai. "Thepolice," she said, "should have expected vandalism. I hope they would be alert now."

The Communist Party of India (CPI) in a statement accused the BJP-led Central government of being a "mute spectator" to the activities of the Shiv Sena in the capital. "The Shiv Sena had first attacked a cinema hall in Delhi and has now damaged the cricket ground. The writ of Bal Thackeray rules even in the Capital, not the authority of the Centre. He should be shown his place. He cannot behave like a medieval emperor or a dictator," the statement held.

Following the request by Delhi and District Cricket Association, companies of PAC and Delhi Police have been deployed at the Kotla for 24-hour vigil till the end of the Test match which is scheduled to begin on January 28. The DDCA today asserted that the Test will be played at the Ferozeshah Kotla as scheduled. "There is no chance of the venue being shifted or the Test not being held," DDCA sports secretary Sunil Dev said today. The DDCA has also assured the BCCI that itwas in full command of the situation and would definitely stage the first Test on the due date. "I have informed Raj Singh Dungarpur that we can repair the damage to the pitch in less than a week," Sunil Dev said.

Today, gun-wielding policemen patrolled the Kotla ground in the evening and guarded the `damaged pitch'.