Four Shiv Sena activists arrested for damaging pitch (8 January 1999)
Delhi police on Wednesday night arrested four Shiv Sena activists who extensively damaged the Ferozshah Kotal pitch to protest the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold the first Test against Pakistan despite warnings
08-Jan-1999
8 January 1999
Four Shiv Sena activists arrested for damaging pitch
From Upali Rupasinghe in New Delhi
Delhi police on Wednesday night arrested four Shiv Sena activists who
extensively damaged the Ferozshah Kotal pitch to protest the decision
of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold the first
Test against Pakistan despite warnings by Shiv Sena Chief Bal
Thackeray.
"They have dug up a huge area in the pitch" said a New Delhi police
official. The Test slated to begin on January 28 and Delhi Cricket
Association officials, said the match would be held as scheduled.
The vandalism occurred hours after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray
was admitted to a Mumbai hospital following complaints of exhaustion
and chest pain.
Delhi cricket association president Mr. Rambabu Gupta said: "No one
can stop the Test match from being played at the Kotla and it will be
held as scheduled.
Controversy caught up with the tour, which will see the arch rivals
clashing in a Test after a decade, even before it began with Bal
Thackeray threatening not to allow Pakistan cricketers to play on
Indian soil unless Islamabad stops helping anti-India activities.
The tour, which starts on January 23 with a three-day match at
Gwalior, also includes a three-nation one-day tournament involving
Sri Lanka.
A few days ago, Mr. Thckeray had said in Mumbai his party would not
allow Pakistan cricketers to play despite security arrangements.
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)