Rock thrown at Australia team bus; two arrested

What's the story?

Shortly after Australia's win in the second T20I over India at Guwahati, a rock was thrown at their team bus. No player was injured as a result and the perpetrator of this incident is still unknown at this time but local authorities have reportedly arrested two people in in connection to the incident.

Shortly after the eight-wicket win in the second T20I, Australian opener Aaron Finch took to Twitter to congratulate his teammates on levelling the series. And not too long afterwards, he posted a picture of the team bus with a wonder shattered as a result of a rock, roughly the size of a cricket ball, being thrown at the bus while the team was on the way back to the hotel.

Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!! pic.twitter.com/LBBrksaDXI

— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) October 10, 2017

In case you didn't know...

Australia won the toss and sent India in to bat in the first international being hosted by Guwahati in seven years. India never really recovered from Jason Behrendorff's incredible spell of fast bowling at the start of the innings. The speedster from Western Australia picked up four wickets, including that of in-form Rohit Sharma and Indian captain Virat Kohli.

The hosts' attempt to rebuild didn't go according to plan as they were bowled out for 118. In response, although the visitors lost both openers early, an unbeaten third wicket partnership between Travis Head and Moises Henriques saw them home with eight wickets and 27 balls to spare.

The heart of the matter

Victory in the second T20I ended Australia's run of seven successive losses against India in T20Is, a run that stretched back to the 2012 World T20. It was also Australia's first win against India in India in five T20Is but leg spinner Adam Zampa admitted that it was a "scary incident".

"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 a pretty scary 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.

"I think everyone was alright. I think after what happened in Bangladesh with the rock as well, no one was too rattled. It was dealt with quite well, I think.The 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. 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," he added.

What's next?

With the series level at 1-1, the two teams will travel to Hyderabad for the final T20I, which will take place on October 13 (Friday).

Author's take

While India have been completely dominant in the series, it is shameful to see incidents like this happen at the conclusion of a game. There will always be winners and losers in sport and one should never take a defeat so seriously.

Cricket is known as the gentleman's game and acts like these, although off the pitch, don't show it in a great light. Whether the two arrested were the perpetrators of the crime or not, the actions should be severely condemned and strict action taken. With the series on the line, one hopes that the final T20I doesn't see any shameful incidents such as this and the focus remains solely on the action on the pitch.