The England cricket team, led by skipper Kevin Pietersen, arrived in Chennai on Monday evening.

The entire team arrived in two batches from Abu Dhabi to play two test matches against India.

England are scheduled to play two Tests - in Chennai (Dec 11-15) and Mohali (Dec 19-23).

The first test is scheduled to begin on Thursday at Chennai.

The England contingent had halted in Abu Dhabi en route to India while awaiting clearance from ECB security advisor Reg Dickason. Dickason visited Chennai to assess security arrangements before giving the go-ahead to travel to India.

Both India and England teams are lodged at the Taj Connemara Hotel that is part of the group of hotels whose flagship the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai was one of the targets of last week's terrorist attack.

The teams have been provided unprecedented security that has made the players virtually inaccessible even to the media. However, there is speculation about a possible change of the second Test to Bangalore in view of Mohali's geographical proximity to Pakistan. A final decision on the venue would be taken after an assessment by Dickason.