Spectators barred from carrying water bottles & metal objects for India-South Africa 1st ODI

Kanpur police have taken the first steps to ensure that the scenes at Cuttack are not repeated

Kanpur police has barred spectators from bringing in water bottles and tiffins to the city’s Green Park stadium during the 1st ODI between India and South Africa which is set to be played on October 11, FirstPost reports. Carrying metallic objects of any size has also been banned.

The move has been prompted by the unruly scenes at Cuttack during the 2nd T20 between the two sides as play had to be suspended twice as a section of the crowd resorted to throwing bottles onto the field of play as the hosts were set to be beaten in comfortable fashion by the Proteas.

The incident which brought shame to Indian cricket was widely criticised by the cricketing fraternity, with Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, who severely criticised the Cuttack police and the ground officials for failing to control the crowd, claiming that the Barabati Stadium should not be given the rights to host an international match for the next two years.

While Indian skipper MS Dhoni chose to downplay the scenes remarking that the crowd were not really serious about the issue.

“It starts with the first bottle and then it’s more of a fun for the spectators,” Dhoni had said, as reported by The Hindu. His South African counterpart Faf du Plessis, who has spent a lot of time playing cricket in India, being an integral member of the Chennai Super Kings franchise, was, however, concerned at how the situation panned out.

“It’s not nice to see it. I have played 5-6 years of cricket in India, and I have never seen that. So, you don’t want that to be a part of the game. You come here to compete, and the best team walks away winning. To have that happening, I don’t think it’s a good thing. It should not happen. Even the way the game was played towards the end, it lost its intensity because obviously India thought that we have already won as we needed only 20 runs,” Du Plessis had said.

The 31-year-old had also expressed hope, with their long tour to India having only just began, that the scenes would not be repeated.

“Disappointing in that sense, and hopefully it is the first and the last time we see it on this tour,” he had said.

The Kanpur police seems to have been listening as they have now confirmed that spectators will not be allowed to carry water bottles and tiffins in the stadium.

"Water bottles, tiffins and any metallic object will not be allowed inside the stadium," Kanpur Police SSP Shalabh Mathur said.