Crowd trouble halts India-Pakistan cricket tie by AFP

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Ground:	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Scorecard:	India v Pakistan
Event:	Pakistan in India 2004/05

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DateLine: 17th April 2005

 

The Indian and Pakistani teams walked off New Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla ground following crowd trouble during the sixth and final one-day international.

 

The game was disrupted after a hail of missiles hit the ground and players from both sides failed to calm the angry crowds.

 

India were reeling at 94-6 in reply to Pakistan's 303 for 8.

 

Water bottles, plastic glasses and other missiles rained on to the outfield as India headed for a massive defeat.

 

Police appealed for calm over loudhailers and Rapid Action Force anti-riot personnel moved in to restore order.

 

The players returned and play resumed after more than a quarter of an hour.

 

"Police arrangements were adequate," said Sneh Bansal, secretary of Delhi and District Cricket Association.

 

"(It was) not anything that could have hurt the players. Just a show of disappointment by a section of the crowd," he said.

 

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had watched the early overs of the game during the morning before holding peace talks in New Delhi.

 

Massive security measures were taken.

 

Thousands of forces were deployed and helicopter gunships clattered overhead.

 

Police and paramilitary troops formed a three-tiered security cordon around the stadium. Snipers manned adjacent buildings, anti-aircraft batteries were deployed and all surrounding roads closed to traffic.

 

India's Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the high-risk match after an attempt by a local body called the Society for Safe Structures to block the game at a stadium which is still under construction.

 

The capacity has been reduced to 30,000 from 50,000 for safety reasons.

 

Crowd trouble has in the past blighted cricket on the sub-continent with India forced to complete a Test match against Pakistan in an empty stadium in Calcutta in 1999 after police cleared the ground following disturbances.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)