Indian board asked to explain crowd trouble in Guwahati

A two-and-a-half year wait for international cricket culminated in violence © Getty Images

The ICC has asked for an explanation from the Indian board for the crowd trouble that had erupted during the April 9 one-day international between India and England at Guwahati.

"Malcolm Speed [the CEO of ICC] has sent us [BCCI] a letter asking for explanation over what he's called serious breach of security," Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told PTI. "I will forward the letter to the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) for its reply which I hope to get in four or five days.

"The ICC has also sent a copy of the report sent to it by match referee Roshan Mahanama which is a standard procedure. After getting the reply from ACA we would send a reply to the ICC."

However, the ACA had not received any letter from the BCCI till late last evening. Ghanshyam Baruah, the treasurer of the ACA, told the Sentinel, a Guwahati-based daily, that they had not yet received any intimation from the Indian board.

Crowd trouble erupted during the game after the umpires had called off play because of a wet outfield. There was rioting in the Eastern stands and the police had to fire tear gas shells to break up the mob. The trouble escalated when the crowd began to target the television cameras, in place to cover the match and at least four cameras were badly damaged. It was later revealed that the damage was around 6.5 to 8 million rupees (US$146,000 to 180,000).