Kolkata: The Indian and Sri Lankan cricket teams today  (Feb 6, 2007)arrived to a tumultous welcome in the city for the February 8 one-dayer at the Eden Gardens.

The Indian players started arriving in batches since last night from various parts of the country while the Sri Lankans landed here at 12.40 pm from Mumbai.

Among the Indian players, Munaf Patel came last night while skipper Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa and S Sreesanth reached the city from Bangalore this morning.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag were among those who came from Delhi.

Team management said all players in the 15-member squad, except Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, were already in town. The three Mumbai cricketers were expected to arrive this evening.

With the BCCI shifting the match from Pune to the city with very little time left, an acute shortage of rooms has forced organisers to house the rival teams in two different hotels.

In view of the Bhubaneswar incident involving coach Greg Chappell who was pushed from behind by a Kalinga Sena activist at Biju Patnaik Airport, heavy security is in place to prevent any untoward incident.