Guwahati: Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa interpreted the rock-hurling incident as, ‘disappointing’ and also said that such things are undesirable in the gentleman’s game.
Left-arm rookie paceman Jason Behrendorff dismantled the Indian batting line-up in the second T20I held in Guwahati and restricted the Indians to only 118 in their 20 overs. In response, the Australians comfortably crossed the line after stable innings from Moises Henriques and Travis Head.
The fans at the Barsapara stadium weren’t pleased at all with the hapless Indian performance and went the wrong way in venting out their frustration as they hurled rocks at the Australian team bus, which was on it’s way back taking the players the playing to the hotel.
Zampa expressed his displeasure over the entire episode and in a video uploaded by Cricket Australia on Twitter, he said, “I had my headphones on quite loud and was looking towards the other side of the bus. I just heard this loud bang. It was pretty scary for five seconds or so. Our security guard mentioned quite quickly that it might have been a rock. It was a pretty scary incident. You never want those things to happen. It was disappointing.”
Recalling a similar incident that happened in Bangladesh, the leggie also said, “I think everyone was alright. I think what happened in Bangladesh with the rock as well, no one was too rattled.”
He added further, “It was dealt with quite well, I think. It was just a disappointing thing to happen.”
Cricket is a very popular sport in the country and Zampa, aware of it indicated at the fact that it might have been the reason for the people to behave this way.
He said, “Indian fans are so great to us which is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to travel here. They’re so loud, they love cricket and they’re so passionate about it. So one person to spoil that is disappointing. Guwahati doesn’t get much cricket as it is so for one person to do that and to spoil it for the rest of the Indian fans, it’s pretty disappointing.”
Indian sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore took to Twitter to reassure everyone that tight security systems have been put in place to ensure the safety of the Australians and the participating teams in the ongoing U-17 World Cup.
He tweeted, “Personal security of visiting athletes & teams is extremely important for us.”
“Guwahati stone-throwing incident NOT reflective of our security measures. Aus team & FIFA are content w/those. India remains a graceful host,” he wrote in another tweet.
Meanwhile, Assam Cricket Association (ACA) secretary Pradip Burogohain has confirmed the fact that two people have already been arrested.
He told PTI, “The police have already arrested two persons and are investigating into the matter. I can assure that such incident won’t occur in future again. There will be a thick security cover when the Australian team leaves for Hyderabad.”