From Munich to Christchurch: When violence hit sports

Agencies
March 15, 2019

New Delhi/Christchurch, Mar 15: The Bangladesh cricket team escaped unhurt and was not even the target but violence has been specifically directed at sportspersons in the past, leading to bloody repercussions. Here is a look at instances when sport, often a tool to propagate the idea of world peace, found itself caught in the crossfire.

*1972 Munich Olympics: The most gruesome incident of targetted violence against sportsperons happened on September 5, 1972. Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were taken hostage and eventually murdered by terrorists during a 16-hour ordeal, during which the world was witness to chilling images of athletes held captive on gunpoint. 

*1987 New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka (cricket): It was to be a three-Test tour but New Zealand abandoned it after just the first match when a bomb planted by separatists exploded near the team hotel in Colombo, killing 113 civilians.

*2002 New Zealand tour of Pakistan (cricket): New Zealand's cricket team was touring Pakistan in 2002 when a bomb went off outside their hotel, killing 12 people. The players were unscathed but the Black Caps' Board decided to call back the team. A year before this, New Zealand were on their way to Pakistan for a series before heading back midway owing to the September 11 terror attack in the USA. The series was eventually abandoned.

*2009 Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan (cricket): The Sri Lankan team was on its way to play what was to be the third day of the second Test against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The team bus was, however, intercepted by at least a dozen terrorists who fired at the bus, resulting in injuries to six Sri Lankan players and the death of the bus driver. Six policemen died protecting the players while two civillians were also killed. The Lankan team returned home and Pakistan has not hosted an international match since then.

*2010 African Nations Cup Football Tournament: Togo's national football side was travelling through the Angolan province of Cabinda for the African Nations Cup when the team bus came under gun fire from separatists. The side's assistant manager and media officer were killed in the attack. 

*2019 Bangladesh tour of New Zealand (cricket): A day before the start of what was to be the third and final Test of the tour, Bangladesh's cricket team was on its way for Friday prayers at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, which was to be followed by a practice session. The mosque came under attack from a gunman, identified as an Australian extremist, and led to the killing 49 people. The players remained safe but the tour was called off.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Karachi, Jun 29: Four heavily-armed militants attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday morning, killing four security guards and a police sub-inspector before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, media reports said.

The unidentified militants opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed hand grenades at the main gate of the building as they tried to storm it, Geo News reported.

Police said that all the terrorists have been killed while five persons injured in the attack.

Four security guards and a police sub-inspector were also killed in the attack.

"An unfortunate incident took place at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. They made their way from our parking area and opened fire on everyone," said Abid Ali Habib, Director of Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The firing by militants caused panic among the people in the building.

Sindh province Governor Imran Ismail condemned the incident.

"Strongly condemn the attack on PSX aimed at tarnishing our relentless war on terror. Have instructed the IG & security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are caught alive & their handlers are accorded exemplary punishments. We shall protect Sindh at all costs," he said on Twitter.

Police and rangers have arrived on the spot and surrounded the area.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

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