Dalmiya condemns crowd's behaviour (21 February 1999)

21 February 1999

Dalmiya condemns crowd's behaviour

Our Special Representative

CALCUTTA, Feb 20: The chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Jaghmohan Dalmiya on Saturday condemned the incident in which crowd trouble forced the law enforcing agencies to get the stadium vacated.

Speaking as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, Dalmiya said he had not words to justify and explain the crowd provocation.

"I exactly don't find any reason for provocation today. Today's action is totally unjustified and uncalled for. The excitement of the crowd last evening was also too much. The spectators should learn that winning and losing is part of the game. Today's gesture was very clear that the last wicket would not be allowed to fall.

"I condemn today's action in strongest possible manner. Yesterday something happened in a spur of the moment but today there is no explanation.

"If that is the only motive of the spectators that the visiting team shouldn't win here, I only leave it to the future and hope the God changes their (crowd's) attitude."

Dalmiya said if the match had not been completed today, India would have been scratched from the championship. "Is this what India deserves, is this what hundreds of thousands of other Bengalis deserve.

Dalmiya, however, admitted that he wasn't sure how to weed out the culprits. "The same thing happened three years ago. Not the entire Calcutta, but some of them don't deserve to watch cricket and I make it clear that cricket doesn't need them. But I don't exactly know how those elements can be kept away from entering the ground and creating humiliation and embarrassment for the country and the association."

The ICC chairman said water bottles were allowed inside the crowd purely on humanitarian grounds. "The crowd has shown that they don't deserve this humanitarian consideration. Water bottles were allowed keeping in mind that the conditions here would be more hot and humid as compared to Chennai and New Delhi and the spectators wouldn't like each time to go down and get water."

Dalmiya said he was presently speaking as a CAB president, but minced no words in saying that if he sat with his ICC president's hat on he would definitely take this issue as a global issue. "I don't know what I would do when the report comes into the ICC headquarters and what should be done about the incident, whether this centre should be black-listed or what. I also can't comment at this stage whether Eden (Gardens) should get the match or not. But at the moment, I can condemn the incident in both my capacities.

"The decision of not to award Tests to Eden Gardens has to be taken collectively because it is a democrative set-up. But it is too early to say whether matches should be held here or not. But one thing is certain that the people will have to sit down and analyse whatever has happened today."

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)