Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered a probe into the crowd trouble that interrupted the second Twenty20 international between India and South Africa in Cuttack on Monday.
India were bowled out for 92 and after the 11th over of the South Africa chase, the upper sections of the crowd vented their frustration out by throwing bottles onto the field. The match was halted for 27 minutes and play resumed but two overs later, another round of crowd trouble resulted in the players going off the field. However, the match resumed and South Africa completed a comfortable six-wicket win.
According to reports, the Odisha chief minister has directed the Odisha Home Secretary Asit Tripathi to conduct the probe and submit report in a month. The chief minister has also instructed officials to prevent such incidents in future.
The crowd disturbance in Cuttack has not gone down well with some players, with South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis calling the event unfortunate.
However, former India player Sunil Gavaskar was scathing in his criticism of the fans. Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Gavaskar said, "Cuttack should not be given an international for the next couple of years. As a deterrent, the BCCI must also stop the subsidy to the Odisha Cricket Association. Do the crowd throw valuables when the team does well? When the team does badly, the fans have no business to throw rubbish."
Players like Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman took to twitter to express their disappointment at the behavior of the fans.