Australia team bus attack: ‘Disappointing that one person has to spoil it for many fans in Guwahati,’ says Adam Zampa

The Australian team bus was attacked in Guwahati after the second T20I. (Source: PTI)

Australian spinner Adam Zampa revealed the sequence of events inside the team bus when a rock was thrown through a window while the team was returning to the team hotel after the second T20I against India. “I had my headphones on quite loud and was looking towards the other side of the bus. I just heard this loud bang,” said Zampa in a video put up by cricket.com.au on Twitter, “It was pretty scary five seconds or so.”

“Our security guard mentioned quite quickly that it might have been a rock. It was a pretty scary incident. You never want those things to happen,” said Zampa. The incident was brought into the limelight by a tweet from Zampa’s teammate and Australia opener Aaron Finch. Finch had tweeted an image of the broken window from inside the bus and stated that it was because a rock had been thrown through it. Zampa said that it was a “disappointing” incident but none of the players was rattled by it. Just as was the case in Guwahati, Australia’s bus was hit with a projectile in Chittagong where they were playing a Test match against Bangladesh.

Adam Zampa discusses the incident which led to Australia’s bus being damaged. READ MORE: http://t.co/SbmW6HXskK pic.twitter.com/7x2ZE2lSYv

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 11 October 2017

“It was disappointing. I think everyone was alright. I think after what happened in Bangladesh with the rock as well, no one was too rattled. It was dealt with quite well I think,” said Zampa. He said that the Indian fans have been great to the Australian team and that it is unfair that one person has to spoil the experience for Guwahati, where an international cricket match was being hosted only for the second time. “It was just a disappointing thing to happen,” said Zampa, “Indian fans are really great to us which is one of the reasons why it is so hard to travel here. They’re so loud and they love cricket and they are so passionate about it. So for one person to spoil that. Guwahati doesn’t get much cricket as it is so for one person to do that and to spoil it for the rest of the Indian fans is pretty disappointing.”

Cricket fans take part in a demonstration to condemn the Tuesday’s attack on Australian team bus, in Guwahati on Wednesday. (Source: PTI)

Australian players, especially star batsmen like Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch have a considerable following in India due to their active involvement in the Indian Premier League. Both Smith and Warner, two of the most prominent figures in the Australian dressing room, have stated numerous times how they have enjoyed their stay in India in the past couple of years.

It was earlier reported that local police had made two arrests in connection to the incident. Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, who was present at the Barsapara stadium for the match, vowed action on the perpetrators. “It was an act to tarnish Guwahati’s reputation as an emerging sports hub. We strongly condemn it and an investigation is on. It was done to defame Assam and derail the state’s journey towards excellence. We’ll foil the evil design with the support of the people of Assam,” he said. Apart from this, there were also images of people taking to the streets and apologising to the Australian players.