Indian fan taken into custody

An Indian fan was taken into custody in connection with an assault in one of the hospitality boxes adjoining the Indian dressing-room at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The man, who is also alleged to have thrown a bottle at Zaheer Khan, apparently manhandled a woman when she tried to prevent him from gaining access to the dressing-room.

The Indian players had been subjected to vile abuse throughout the day, with even stalwarts like Rahul Dravid singled out for intensely personal barbs. Towards the end of the Indian innings, some fans asked Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan to come down and sign autographs. The players are not allowed to do so, and the mood then turned ugly.

As South Africa breezed towards the target, the abuse in both Hindi and Gujarati became much more strident. And when the players came down for the presentation ceremony, there was further heckling. According to a source within the Indian team, the same group had derided the players' efforts at Durban and Cape Town as well.

Following the presentation, Zaheer is said to have asked the security staff to bring the man to him. When confronted with him, Zaheer apparently asked him why he had thrown the bottle. He then walked away, but the individual wasn't prepared to let it go at that.

He went around to the hospitality box and tried to force his way into the dressing-room through there. When he started manhandling the lady, her daughter raised the alarm, and security staff apprehended him and took him into custody. The authorities are currently trying to locate the woman involved in the incident to get her version of events.

Corne Meyer, who handles security for the event sponsors, said that a man had indeed been found trespassing in the dressing-room area, but declined to comment till he had further investigated the matter.

"Nothing untoward happened inside the dressing-room, and the security personnel quickly got the man out of there," said Rajan Nair, the Indian team's media manager when quizzed about the incident. The Northerns Cricket Union is also investigating the matter which, if true, involves a serious security breach.