No spectators allowed for Duleep Trophy final

Hyderabad:

The final of India's regional Duleep Trophy competition will be played behind closed doors because organizers fear crowd trouble in Hyderabad from political protesters.

Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) says it is not going to allow any spectators inside the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium for the five days of the inter-zonal match which began Tuesday.

Shivlal Yadav, vice-president of HCA, says the "gates have been closed due to security reasons as we do not want the match to be interrupted."

A domestic Twenty20 match was disrupted in January by political activists, who were cleared by police after staging a sit-in protest to highlight their demand for the splitting of the southern Andhra Pradesh state.