Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik orders Probe into Barabati Fiasco

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken strong exception to the crowd trouble at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, which brought shame to Odisha on national and international arena. He has ordered a probe into the incident.

The Home Secretary has been directed to probe the incident and submit a detailed report within a month. The CM reprimanded Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) and Commissionerate Police for their failure to control the situation. “Such incidents should not be repeated,” he warned.

As India performed badly in yesterday’s T20 tie against South Africa and bowled out for a paltry 92, a section of the crowd got agitated. When South Africa cruised towards victory, they went berserk and threw water bottled to the ground, disrupting the match.

The match was halted twice and 55 minutes were wasted in the process. Finally, the match resumed with a limited number of crowd and South Africa won the match by 6 wickets. Former cricketers such as Sunil Gavaskar has called for a ban on Barabati Stadium in Cuttack at least for a couple of years.

Many other cricketers and fans across the world have echoed the same sentiments and condemned the crowd behaviour.