Hyderabad Cricket dealing with nuts who threw bolts in match against LSG

Prerak Mankad

Security will be tightened for Sunrisers Hyderabad's last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 18 after an object was thrown on the field during the game against Lucknow Super Giants at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.

Taking a serious view of the security lapse, K Durga Prasad, former Director General of CRPF and now assisting the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) Nageswara Rao, who is managing the Hyderabad Cricket Association, said it was unacceptable and a serious issue. "We would like the game to be uninterrupted and the conduct of the match to be very smooth giving a happy fan experience,'' he said on Sunday.

The incident happened in the 19th over of the SRH innings when a spectator at the Pavilion End threw an object, hurting LSG fielder Prerak Mankad at long-on which is near the visitors' dug-out. "Someone threw a nut or bolt, I don't know. But a couple of them went past me and one of them hit my head. I informed the fourth umpire who was standing at that place,'' said Mankad, who played a stellar role in LSG's seven-wicket victory. The match was stopped for six minutes.

Residue of chair repairs

Explaining the sequence of events, Durga Prasad said as most of the chairs were broken and they had to do a repair job. "We have been replacing all the broken seats after every match. The staff of the agency replacing the chairs seem to have left some old nuts and washers after their work. It is unfortunate that a spectator appeared to have thrown them onto the field, one of which apparently to have hit a player resulting in a stoppage of the game for a while. Action is being taken to remove all the loose screws, bolts, nuts or any item which can be used as a projectile from all the sitting areas,'' he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Heinrich Klaasen, who rallied SRH to a challenging total along with Abdul Samad, was fined 10 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct.

"Klaasen admitted to the Level 1 Offence under Article 2.7 which states the use of public criticism/inappropriate comment in the IPL's Code of
Conduct," IPL said in a statement.

Also Read: Pooran blasts 13-ball 44 to hand Lucknow seven-wicket win against Sunrisers

Massive renovation due

Incidentally, the stadium is in for a massive renovation after the IPL matches are completed. A new-look stadium will be ready for the coming World Cup in India later this year.