Karnataka - Bangalore   

Fans fume at cricketers

Staff Reporter

Bats and stumps set on fire on Mahatma Gandhi Road

VENTING THEIR IRE: Fans burning the posters of Indian cricketers in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

BANGALORE: Disenchanted cricket fans took to the streets in Bangalore on Saturday to vent their anger against the Indian team for losing against Sri Lanka in the crucial match in the ICC World Cup Tournament on Friday.

Soon after Sri Lanka trounced India in their final league match, angry fans gathered on the upmarket Mahatma Gandhi Road in the early hours of Saturday. They placed cricket bats and stumps on the road and set them on fire. They raised slogans against the "Men in Blue."

Fans set on fire posters of Rahul Dravid and his teammates at CKC Garden in Sudhamanagar, off Double Road and placed a replica of the World Cup upside down on the road to highlight India's failure.

In Chamarajpet, fans had put up huge posters and banners a fortnight ago to wish good luck to the Indian team. It was a different picture on Saturday night when these very fans pulled them all down and burnt them along with the portraits of the players. They also raised slogans against the team management for not including Anil Kumble in playing eleven on Friday. Meanwhile, the police tightened security at the residences of Dravid, Kumble and Robin Uthappa in Bangalore by deploying additional forces.

Armed policemen were posted at Dravid's house at Indiranagar, Kumble's house in 2nd Stage, Banashankari, and that of Uthappa near L.R. Bande in Devarajeevanahalli since India lost to Bangladesh in their first league match on March 17, a senior police official told The Hindu. However, no untoward incidents were reported from these areas, he said.

Costly mistake

Thieves looted two mobile phones, wristwatches, a gold ring and cash from the house of a disheartened cricket fan who had gone to sleep without locking the door after watching the India-Sri Lanka cricket match.

Narasimha Murthy, who lives in BTM Layout Second Stage, went to bed disheartened after India's debacle, forgetting to bolt the main door in the early hours of Saturday.

Thieves, who clearly spotted more opportunities than the Indian team did, sneaked into the house, and made away with cash, valuables and vehicle documents.

On a complaint by Narasimha Murthy, the MICO Layout police registered a case.

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