Christmas celebrations turned out to be dull for many cricket fans in the city as India lost the T20 match against Pakistan.
Some of the fans were in deep shock as their expectations came down crashing towards the end. Ramesh Elworthy, a software engineer, after coming out Chinnaswamy Stadium said he had expected a spectacular performance by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina but their performance was unimpressive. “They were not impressive enough. Perhaps if we had controlled well at the end, we could have won,” he added. Meanwhile, some of the fans who were unaware of Virendra Sehwag being dropped for the match, expressed their displeasure. “We were expecting Sehwag to be in the match. If he was there, the target would have been at least 20 runs more,” said Manasa Dilip Kumar.
Loot the Spot
Outside the stadium, fans who were upset, caught a suspected pick-pocket and thrashed him before handing him over to the police.
On the other side, near Church Street, a police constable was busy collecting parking fee from bikers who had parked their vehicles in no parking zones. When Express confronted him with questions, he said he was a constable from Ashoknagar limits and said he was just directing them home. “I gave him `20, otherwise he was reluctant to let me go,” said Pradeep, a two-wheeler owner, who had parked his vehicle near the stadium.
Are Women Safe?
A woman reporter from a news channel, who was trying to capture the mood of the people at the stadium, was surrounded by a gang of men who was cheering. She had to switch the camera to avoid any embarrassment. “I don’t think I attracted them, but the camera did, I suppose. But I did not want to take risk,” she said.
If she had not been from the media and had not been accompanied by a male colleague, the situation could have worsened.