The general public was locked out of the fourth and final day game between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at Palam Ground in New Delhi. The decision was taken after the bizarre incident which took place in the stadium when a man drove his car into the ground, thus violating the security and breaching the rule and regulations.
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The incident happened on Friday, on the third day of the game. The players were left surprised when the man entered the stadium and had no idea what had happened then,
“The Services authorities did not allow any general spectator inside the ground. There was a double lock at the entrance gate which was unmanned during the security breach. Only journalists with valid BCCI central accreditation card were allowed. In fact, one spectator jokingly produced his Aadhar Card at the gate,” a DDCA official told PTI.
In the past, there have been many cases of the small security breaches at Palam stadium, but never such a thing had happened. In 2015, when South Africa was playing a practice game against India A ahead of the start of international fixtures, there was general public sitting at the boundary ropes and each time the ball went towards them, it was quite difficult for South African players to get the ball back.
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At times, the public even chased players for photographs, which is another case of a security breach as per the rules.
The services authorities decided to keep the spectators out of the game following the incident, to prevent any intrusion during the play. Journalists with BCCI accreditation were only allowed to witness the game.
Palam authorities don’t allow spectators to watch the game as early this year, during Vijay Haare Trophy, the general public wasn’t allowed to witness the game, but this time, the authorities decided to let public watch Ranji Trophy. Mow, such an incident has forced the authority to change their stand and switch to the previous policy again.
Meanwhile, it is not sure whether Delhi would be playing its next match here or not. The contest is to be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium but with a Test match already scheduled at Kotla from December 2-6, everything depends on state association and BCCI.
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