Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar appealed for more maturity from cricket fans, saying the unruly crowd behaviour during the Twenty20 match between India and South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack was not good for the sport.
Exhorting fans of the ‘Gentleman's game’ to learn from the forgettable incident, he said: "What happened during the game is definitely not good for the game. It has happened earlier also. We need to learn from these mistakes. We are all passionate about the game. We all love the game, so we get disappointed and frustrated at times.
“There are ways to express that, but what happened in Cuttack is certainly not the way show your emotions."
He urged fans to reflect on what transpired during the second match of the T20 series which the Proteas won by six wickets.
"I would request all the fans to think about it, show some maturity. There are better ways of dealing with disappointment and frustration," he said.
Play was stopped twice after spectators hurled water bottles to the ground.
Following the victory, South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series.
On Tuesday, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar condemned the unruly crowd behaviour and police response to it, saying the Barabati stadium should be banned as an international venue for two years.
"Cuttack should not be given an international match for the next couple of years. As a deterrent, the BCCI must also stop the subsidy to the Odisha Cricket Association," he said.