West Indies coach slams 'ridiculous' ICC statement

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Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has said it was "ridiculous" for ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat to dismiss the stone-throwing incident involving the West Indies team bus as minor.

"I just want to make it clear first of all and remind Haroon Lorgat of his responsibility," Gibson said. "He can't sit in a hotel room in Chennai and say they were pebbles. 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."

The bus carrying the West Indies players was stoned on its way back to the team hotel after they thrashed Bangladesh by nine wickets in Mirpur on Friday. The Bangladesh bus was also stoned, as was Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan's house. The day after the incident, Lorgat spoke in Chennai and played down the episode, saying it was only a few individuals that had thrown pebbles at the bus.

West Indies arrived in Chandigarh yesterday and PTI reports that security has been stepped up at Hotel Taj Palace, which is where the team is staying ahead of their game against Ireland in Mohali on March 11.

Gibson elaborated on how events unfolded from the perspective of the team inside the bus. "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."

He also said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board president had apologised to the West Indies team management immediately after the incident and that the team was now focused on their next game. "The players are looking to move on 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."