PHOTO COURTESY: AARON FINCH/TWITTER
NEW DELHI: India's sports minister on Wednesday sought to reassure Australian cricketers about their safety after a rock shattered a window on the bus taking them to their hotel following a series-levelling win in the second T20I.
The incident in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati was the second in two months, after Cricket Australia said in September that the team's bus window was broken by a "small rock or stone" in Bangladesh after a Test match.
Australia's team bus attacked with stones in Guwahati
"Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!!," batsman Aaron Finch tweeted after the eight-wicket win against India.
The photo he posted on Twitter showed a shattered window pane with a large hole.
Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!! pic.twitter.com/LBBrksaDXI
— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) October 10, 2017
Indian Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, an Olympic silver medallist in shooting, said there were tight security arrangements in place for the Australian team as well as for the players taking part in the U17 FIFA World Cup.
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"Personal security of visiting athletes & teams is extremely important for us," he tweeted. "Guwahati stone-throwing incident NOT reflective of our security measures. Aus team & FIFA are content w/those. India remains a graceful host."
Two people have been arrested as police investigations into the incident continue, the Press Trust of India reported.
Cricket Australia's news site cricket.com.au said no one was hurt when the window was broken by a rock roughly the size of a cricket ball, but the Australian players were "understandably shaken up".
A CA spokesman told AFP they were "satisfied with the levels of security provided".
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin told the fans that guests should be treated with respect and urged restraint from his countrymen.
"The stone thrown at the Aussie team bus shows us in bad light, let's all act more responsibly. A vast majority of us are capable of that," he wrote on Twitter.
The final T20I game will be played in Hyderabad on Friday.
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