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"There were stones thrown at our bus (in Dhaka). I just want to make it clear first of all and remind Haroon Lorgat of his responsibility. He can`t sit in a hotel room in Chennai and say they were pebbles," West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson said here.
The West Indies` team bus window panes were shattered by angry Bangladeshi fans` stones after Darren Sammy`s men humiliated the local favourites by nine wickets while chasing a paltry 59. Upset fans also attacked Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan`s house breaking one window.
Speaking at Chennai, Lorgat had reportedly played down the incident, calling it `minor`, pointing out that few individuals had thrown pebbles at the bus.
"What we heard hitting the bus and smashing glass didn`t seem to us to be pebbles. So it is not fair to make a statement like that. We as management of West Indies team here believe that was a ridiculous statement to make," Gibson said.
West Indies team arrived in the city last evening.
Security has been stepped up at Hotel Taj Palace here where the team is staying ahead of their clash against giant-killers Ireland at PCA stadium, Mohali on Friday.
Gibson informed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board president spoke to the West Indies team management immediately after the incident and apologised for whatever happened.
The coach said the morale of the team is high and the boys have left the incident behind to focus on their game against Ireland.
"The players are looking to move on (leave the incident behind) and looking forward to play their next game at Mohali.
We don`t want to make a big thing out of it. But at the same time, to us, it wasn`t a minor incident like Mr Lorgat was trying to say. Lorgat has the responsibility to be careful to what he says in this situation," he said.
Giving details of what had happened in Dhaka, Gibson said, "We were in the bus and enjoying ourselves after the win. Some (fans) were taking pictures outside. We saw a hell lot of people...suddenly stones were thrown at our bus and couple of windows smashed. The glass broke, but it did not shatter and no rock came inside. No player suffered injury.
Most of us ducked down on the floor of the bus."
On some media reports that the fans thought it was the bus carrying Bangladeshi players, he said, "We don`t know whether that was deliberate or fans thought it was a Bangladeshi bus. But that doesn`t matter, the fact is that this should not have happened, whether it is our bus or their bus. It is unfortunate thing to happen and we hope it doesn`t happen anymore (with anyone)."
