IND vs SA: When upset Cuttack crowd hurled bottles to stop India vs South Africa T20I at Barabati Stadium

The unruly Cuttack spectators grew impatient, resorting to throwing bottles in the second innings of the game to exhibit their displeasure against the Indians.

How Cuttack crowd stopped the IND-SA T20I

South Africa’s run chase experienced two halts. The first interruption, lasting 19 minutes, happened when the score was 64 for three after 11 overs due to bottles being thrown onto the field. Although the game resumed, it was stopped again just two overs later. On this second occasion, umpires CK Nandan and C Shamshuddin made the decision to remove the players from the field.

It seemed like the game would soon be called off. But the cops and Odisha Cricket Association officials got into the action and eventually the match resumed again after 27 minutes. South Africa would beat India fair and square, taking a 2-0 lead and eventually the series.

‘Not a serious threat’

Then-India limited-overs captain, Dhoni, downplayed the concerns over the stoppage in play due to the bottles thrown down from the ground.

“Frankly, from a safety point of view, I don’t think there was a very serious threat. A few of the powerful people from the crowd were good enough to throw the bottles inside the rope. So the umpires thought it was better that players go off the field for a while. The reaction of the crowd, you know, we didn’t play well, so at times you get reactions like this,” Dhoni told in the post-match press conference, before explaining the hurling ‘process’.

“It’s only the first bottle. After that they start throwing for fun. We shouldn’t read too much into it. I still remember we played in Vishakhapatnam once, we won the game very easily, and that time also a lot of bottles were thrown. It starts with the first bottle, and after that, you know, it is more fun for the spectators if they start doing it and following it.”

“It’s not nice to see it. I’ve played five-six years of cricket in India, and I’ve never seen that. So, you don’t want that to be a part of the game. You come here to compete, and the best team walks away winning. To have that happening, I don’t think it’s a good thing. It shouldn’t happen. Even the way the game was played towards the end, it lost its intensity because obviously India thought that we’ve already won as we needed only 20 runs. Disappointing in that sense, and hopefully it’s the first and the last time we see it on this tour,” Dhoni’s counterpart, Faf du Plessis, remarked.

India legend Sunil Gavaskar lambasted the crowd behaviour, insisting that the ground face a ban for two years from hosting international games.

“The police were standing there without any instructions. The policemen, who are stationed on the boundary perimeter should not be watching cricket but monitoring the behaviour of the fans,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

“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.

As it would turn out, Cuttack’s next international men’s fixture took place two years later in 2017.

India’s poor T20I record at Cuttack

Since that ill-fated T20I debut for the venue, Cuttack has only hosted two more matches at the Barabati Stadium. India defeated Sri Lanka in 2017 but endured another humbling at the hands of South Africa in 2022, losing by four wickets.

Cuttack last hosted an international game earlier this year, an India-England ODI ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy. Chasing 305, India would romp home by four wickets, riding on Rohit Sharma’s 32nd ODI century. But when the Saffers return to the Barabati, some prickly memories from the past will sting the home side.