Dhoni's house attacked after India's defeat

New Delhi/Ranchi/Bangalore, Mar 18: Enraged cricket fans took to the streets, burnt players' effigies and vandalised Mahendra Singh Dhoni's house in the Jharkhand capital today after India crashed to a defeat against Bangladesh in the World Cup. The defeat sparked strong reactions back home. Damage was reported when around 50 youths assembled and attacked the construction site of the new house of dashing India stumper Dhoni in Ranchi.

They also burnt the effigy of the player who was out for a duck in yesterday's match. Teammates and coach Greg Chappell were not spared either as the fans demanded the squad return from the Caribbean.

Security cover was provided to Dhoni's parents after the incident.

In Bangalore, vigilance was also stepped up at the residences of Indian captain Rahul Dravid, ace leggie Anil Kumble and opener Robin Uthappa, following the team's lacklustre performance.

Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid faced the ire of crowd in Kolkata where fans took out procession before buring their effigies. They wanted the coach and the captain to be sacked immediately.

However, it was beleaguered Virender Sehwag who was in the eye of the storm. The Delhi opener, suffering from a prolonged form slump, drew strongest of the reactions from the fans across the country.

In Kanpur, while the aggressive in the crowd burnt his posters, others simply questioned the player's utility in the squad. Similar scences were re-enacted in Varanasi, Bhopal and Jaipur.

In Jalandhar, fans turned up in large numbers to hold a demonstration and burn posters of the players today.

Slogans were raised against Sehwag, Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and other members of the Indian squad and even cricket administrators were not spared curses.

Meanwhile, Sehwag found a voice of support in his mother Krishna, who urged fans to keep their faith in her son.

UNI