‘Why so serious?’

Dhoni downplays boorish crowd behaviour, says there was no real threat

India's limited overs skipper MS Dhoni sought to down play the boorish crowd behaviour, where he termed throwing of bottles as "not so serious" and "done just for fun", even though legendary Sunil Gavaskar blasted the authorities demanding strict punishment.

"We should not be taking such things seriously. I still remember in Vizag we won the game easily and that time a lot of bottles were thrown. It starts with the first bottle and then it’s fun for the spectators."

The skipper however said the players' security was never compromised. "When it comes to the safety of the players, I don't think there was any serious threat. A few of the powerful people in the crowd where throwing the bottles into the ground and the umpires felt it was safe to stay in the centre or go off the ground.

"We didn't play well and at times you get reaction like these. It's only the first few bottles that are hurled with serious intent, after that they just do it for fun."

South African T20 skipper du Plessis on the other hand condemned the incident and hoped there's not a repeat in their long 72-day tour of India which also includes five ODIs and four Tests.

"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. Disappointing in that sense, and hopefully it is the first and the last time we see it on this tour."

Asked whether it's limited to sub-continents only, Du Plessis said: "It is a difficult question to answer. All around the world you get people who get really passionate about their team. Sometimes you cross that boundary you shouldn't.

"This is the first time I have experienced in India, so I can't say it happens a lot. But as you said, it happens a lot in the sub-continental conditions. That's definitely to do with the passion that fans have. But, it’s surely not something we as players want to be a part of the game.

"Obviously, player security is very important wherever we go across the world. Let’s just hope that it's a bad day at the office."

Former Indian captain Gavaskar had earlier blasted the Odisha police and advocated that Cuttack should not be given an international for the next couple of years.

"The police were standing there without any instructions. The policemen, who are stationed on the boundary perimeter should not be watching cricket but monitoring the behaviour of the fans," a furious Gavaskar told NDTV.

"Cuttack should not be given an international match for the next couple of years. As a deterrent, the BCCI must also stop the subsidy to the Odisha Cricket Association," he said.

The former skipper said irrespective of the team's poor performance, the spectators have no right to disrupt play by throwing objects on the field. "Do the crowd throw valuables when the team does well? When the team does badly, the fans have no business to throw rubbish," Gavaskar said.

India were bowled out for their second-lowest total in T20I history as come backman Albie Morkel notched up three wickets to dismantle the home side's line-up.

With last night's win, South Africa gabbed a 2-0 lead in the series, which concludes with the third match on October 8 in Kolkata.

"My honest advice to Indian players is not to get complacent. They must strive to get better. Amit Mishra could have been tried as MS Dhoni had no confidence in Axar Patel. I think Axar is being rushed into international cricket too soon," said Gavaskar in his analysis of the Indian team's performance so far.

The T20Is would be followed by a five-match ODI series starting from October 11.

‘T20 not about brains’

Dhoni said that "one bad performance per year" serves him a timely reminder that one should not use "too much brain" in shortest format. "On and off, we have seen performances like these in T20s. Every year, we at least have one performance, where we are not up to the mark. Maybe this is the performance and we will play freely in the next games."

Dhoni said over-thinking can complicate matters in T20. "I feel that I used too much brain in this format. It's important I keep myself free and go and play my strokes. Depending on that I play slow initially. I should play big shots from the word go irrespective of the scenario, because that's what this format is all about."—PTI