HYDERABAD
Hyderabad Cricket Association president Mohd Azharuddin termed “as very unfortunate” the incidents that had happened at the Gymkhana Ground on Thursday morning, venue where the tickets were on sale for the T-20 international match between India and Australia to be held at Uppal Stadium here on September 25 and which led to a stampede and lathicharge with a huge crowd turning up.
“It is not as easy to conduct a match as sitting in this room and discussing,” Azhar said at the media conference also attended by the Sports Minister V. Srinivas Goud, who summoned the HCA officials to his chambers to seek an explanation about the incidents.
“We have done nothing wrong. We are with the fans who were injured in the morning incidents, and the HCA will take care of them completely,” Azhar said.
“I will give a complete report on the sale of tickets, availability and other details to the Minister and he will tell you what is correct and what is wrong,” he said.
“There are going to be problems. Yes, the public wants to see the match after a three-year gap. But, again, not all of them can do it,” the HCA chief said.
“We will give all the details at the media briefing on Friday. We have nothing to hide. But, at the same time, we have to make sure the game goes forward,” Azhar said.
“The Supreme Court has not given any order restraining my powers,” he insisted in reply to another query on the role of the four-member supervisory committee formed by the Supreme Court for the HCA last month.
For his part, the Minister, who sounded aggressive and tough in the morning, sounded different after the meeting, to which he had summoned the HCA officials.
“It was a fact that they (government) lacked coordination with the HCA and assured that the incidents would not be repeated,” the Minister said.
“The top police officials will inquire into the reasons leading to today’s incidents and will take necessary action, if needed,” he said.
“We had taken a decision to sell tickets off-line late last evening and because of that there was a huge turn-out which led to the stampede,” the Minister said.
HCA secretary R. Vijayanand, who attended the meeting, informed The Hindu that the Minister wanted to take all measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
“At the same time, he also assured of complete support from the State government with regard to the conduct of the match as the government feels it is a matter of great pride to host an international cricket match, especially after the pandemic,” the secretary concluded.
