Freddie claims he was shot at in Delhi....

[Sanz]

That'll be why Flintoff says he "expects to be hit by plastic bottles" in India then. They're just gifts, are they? After an allegation like this, with the proof coming from Cricinfo's commentary that at least something did happen, you can hardly call that good treatment - and that was the first time he'd even set foot in India! Thank God he isn't Pakistani, God knows what would have happened to him then.

Pakistanis just toured India in 2005, there were treated pretty well there. They also toured India in 1998-99 when the tentions were at peak between the two countries and they gave a standing ovation after their victory @ Chennai. I hope that gives you a hint about how they will be treated there. If you are going to the subcontinent with the attitude 'Everything sucks here' then you will be ignored, if you are going to respect it for what it is then you will be loved there. Ask Brett Lee or for that matter any aussie cricketer who has toured India under Steve Waugh.

There are always going to be some idiots in the stadium and there are going to be minor incident, it doen't mean they were not treated well. It also doesn't mean that majority of the crowd is going to be like.. 'Hey this is the guy who said crap about us, so lets throw some bottles at him' .

Flintoff is certainly overstating the incident and some folks here are certainly taking it too far with how the crowd reaction is going to be after that.

 

[luckyeddie]

Obviously, being hit by pellets is same as being 'shot at'. Right ?? And now we have the proof as you said "something happened" and it must have been someone firing a shot @ Freddie.

People have been killed by air pistols.

I appreciate that you live in a country that subscribes to a moronic gun culture and so you have possibly been sanitised, but in my book an air pistol is an offensive weapon.

Try holding up a bank with one and see where it gets you.

 

[Barney Rubble]

People have been killed by air pistols.

I appreciate that you live in a country that subscribes to a moronic gun culture and so you have possibly been sanitised, but in my book an air pistol is an offensive weapon.

Try holding up a bank with one and see where it gets you.

Yet again, LE manages to bring some much-needed sense to the discussion. Well said my man.

 

[PY]

There are always going to be some idiots in the stadium and there are going to be minor incident, it doen't mean they were not treated well. It also doesn't mean that majority of the crowd is going to be like.. 'Hey this is the guy who said crap about us, so lets throw some bottles at him' .

Any incident (and under any circumstances) where a player is hit by missiles cannot be seen as minor, surely you as a cricket fan can accept that.

Flintoff is certainly overstating the incident and some folks here are certainly taking it too far with how the crowd reaction is going to be after that.

So you, knowing absolutely nothing more about the incident than we do, have ascertained somehow that Flintoff is certainly overstating. You can't say it for certain and I think you know it.

 

[greg]

Flintoff is certainly overstating the incident and some folks here are certainly taking it too far with how the crowd reaction is going to be after that going to be some idiots in the stadium and there are going to be minor incident, it doen't mean they were not treated well. It also doesn't mean that majority of the crowd is going to be like.. 'Hey this is the guy who said crap about us, so lets throw some bottles at him' .

.

How is he overstating the incident? I guess you can't dispute his account of the incident seeing as you weren't there. If being hit by airpellets is something that happens all the time in India then there is something wrong. It is obviously worthy of note if this incident was exceptional. As for why it was raised now - well he wrote a book and obviously needed material to put in it. He has not made a big issue of it, just in passing wondered if it wouldn't have been better if more had been done about it.

None of this is any criticism of the vast majority of Indians who are some of the most hospitable people in the world.

 

[Jono]

Thank God he isn't Pakistani, God knows what would have happened to him then.

Excuse me? A bit of an overexaggeration wouldn't you say? Especially considering how well Pakistani's recent tour of India went.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Flintoff is certainly overstating the incident and some folks here are certainly taking it too far with how the crowd reaction is going to be after that.

Well, considering the man himself expected to have bottles thrown at him the first time he went there, I would think he is probably expecting worse for himself than any of us are from him.

Not having watched cricket in India, I can't make a judgement on the crowds myself - all I am saying is that if he went there expecting to be hit, then clearly cricketers themselves don't feel they are given the reception they warrant over there.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Excuse me? A bit of an overexaggeration wouldn't you say? Especially considering how well Pakistani's recent tour of India went.

Yeah, I guess that was an overstatement - statement retracted.

 

[Sanz]

People have been killed by air pistols.

I appreciate that you live in a country that subscribes to a moronic gun culture and so you have possibly been sanitised, but in my book an air pistol is an offensive weapon.

Try holding up a bank with one and see where it gets you.

There you go..started attacking me (and the country I live) again..That's all we get from the duck now a days. In case you didn't know I am terrified of guns and also that in India it is illegal to carry a gun to a public place.

So it is highly unlikely that someone was in the stadium with a Gun or any offensive weapon especially when the Deputy Prime Minister of India was going to be there to watch the game.

As for your suggestion, why dont you try that yourself and see where it takes you. .

 

[twctopcat]

Pellet guns come in all shapes and sizes. The fact he got hit and it didn't penetrate suggests it was very weak and/or the shooter was far away. I highly doubt Freddy lied though.

 

[Sanz]

Well, considering the man himself expected to have bottles thrown at him the first time he went there, I would think he is probably expecting worse for himself than any of us are from him.

Not having watched cricket in India, I can't make a judgement on the crowds myself - all I am saying is that if he went there expecting to be hit, then clearly cricketers themselves don't feel they are given the reception they warrant over there.

Considering that on an avg. some 50/60 thousand people turn out to watch ODIs in India there are always going to be some idiots in the crowd. It's not like as soon as they are in the stadium people start throwing bottles at them. The board is taking measures to stop all that but some people will always find ways to throw papers & plastic.

No one goes in the middle expecting to be hit, this is just ridiculous.

 

[luckyeddie]

There you go..started attacking me (and the country I live) again..That's all we get from the duck now a days. In case you didn't know I am terrified of guns and also that in India it is illegal to carry a gun to a public place.

So it is highly unlikely that someone was in the stadium with a Gun or any offensive weapon especially when the Deputy Prime Minister of India was going to be there to watch the game.

As for your suggestion, why dont you try that yourself and see where it takes you. .

I'm sorry - how have I attacked you?

I mentioned that you live in country that has a moronic gun culture - can you dispute that? Do you think that being able to go into a shop and buy an automatic weapon is anything other than a baffling state of affairs?

I also mentioned that I felt that your living in a country that has more guns than people might just have caused you to be de-sensitised, but again I don't think that was a personal attack.

If I caused offence, I apologise, you poor sensitive dear.

 

[greg]

There you go..started attacking me (and the country I live) again..That's all we get from the duck now a days. In case you didn't know I am terrified of guns and also that in India it is illegal to carry a gun to a public place.

So it is highly unlikely that someone was in the stadium with a Gun or any offensive weapon especially when the Deputy Prime Minister of India was going to be there to watch the game.

As for your suggestion, why dont you try that yourself and see where it takes you. .

Forgive me if you've answered this before, but why is your location "USA"? Are you at university there?

 

[marc71178]

i find these claims a bit strange in all the convo's i've had with the man he's never mentioned that, ah well maybe its true....

Because he's really going to tell something like that to a spotty teenager...

 

[Sanz]

How is he overstating the incident? I guess you can't dispute his account of the incident seeing as you weren't there. If being hit by airpellets is something that happens all the time in India then there is something wrong. It is obviously worthy of note if this incident was exceptional. As for why it was raised now - well he wrote a book and obviously needed material to put in it. He has not made a big issue of it, just in passing wondered if it wouldn't have been better if more had been done about it.

First of all I have not seen anyone in India being hit by airpellets in the 25 years I have lived there so that means It doesn't really happen all the time and I have lived and travelled to almost every city in India where International cricket is played(not as a cricket fan though). Secondly IMO he is overstating it because if it were that big then the ECB, the then captain would have taken it seriously and at least reported it to the authorities. They didn't and there can be only one explanation for it.

And about the bit that he has not made a big issue of it right now, well he cant after 4 years, can he ? What more can he do right now, refuse to tour India because it is not safe there ? I do think that he has tried his best to make it an issue when he made the statement :- "Looking back now, I think I should have made more of a stand because I wasn't there to be shot at"

Lastly, I apologize If my posts come across as overtly agressive, I certainly have got to learn how to express myself better without souding offensive or aggresive.

 

[Sanz]

Forgive me if you've answered this before, but why is your location "USA"? Are you at university there?

I moved to usa in the mid 90s, work as an IT professional.

 

[Sanz]

Any incident (and under any circumstances) where a player is hit by missiles cannot be seen as minor, surely you as a cricket fan can accept that.

So you, knowing absolutely nothing more about the incident than we do, have ascertained somehow that Flintoff is certainly overstating. You can't say it for certain and I think you know it. [/QUOTE]

Hey, If it isn't minor then report it to the authorities. If you(Board, Player, Captain etc) chose to sweep it under the carpet then one can be assume only one thing.

What's up with you ending your posts with "...you know it" ?

Btw, Whenever I have been to a cricket game(mostly to watch test matches in 90s) , haven't even been allowed to carry a newspaper with me inside the stadium, so no I dont know how someone can carry a airgun with him.

 

[C_C]

I can see both sides of the coin in this.

If there was a coverup, India is the most likely place it would happen, for the simple reason that India is the financial mecca of cricket. If Indian cricket gets disrupted by criminal investigation at the grounds, every single board - including ECB and ICC would take a big hit in terms of revenue.

On the other hand, i wouldnt be surprised if Flintoff is taking some poetic licence about projectiles hurled at him. Maybe this is his idea of sh*t-talking before a series or getting himself into the spotlight but i find his story somewhat incredulous. A pellet gun can kill or cripple you from 20-25 yards out if it hits you in some specific spots ( like the solar plexis, behing yer ears, directly on the spine etc). And Freddie just calmly looked down, saw the pellets lodged in the ground and then calmy looked up and continued playing.....ummm yea... right. Freddie may be a cool customer but even the SAS arnt THAT cool - a person getting shot at elicits a very strong reaction even if he is a military commando- survival mode kicks in. But Freddie just walked up to his captain, complained and then his captain b*tched at the umpires and incredulously, sent him right back where he was. And Freddie had no problem staying in the ground after being shot at.
Either Freddie is one of the dumbest human beings to ever live and Hussain's conduct bordering on criminal negligence or it is a liberal dose of poetic license applied to someone hurling a rock or two.
In anycase, i am more inclined to believe the Police authority than Flintoff.

 

[PY]

What's up with you ending your posts with "...you know it" ?

It's a polite way of saying you got up my nostrils.

 

[Sanz]

Because he's really going to tell something like that to a spotty teenager...