Sorry Sunil, the delay was not intentional, says Fort Lauderdale security head
MUMBAI: It is not the first instance when Sunil Gavaskar was denied “easy entry” at the cricket stadium. The Little Master had surrendered his Life Membership when the stewards didn’t allow him through Grace Gates at Lord’s in 1990. But only at the insistence from the late president Michael Colin Cowdrey (MCC) several years later, Gavaskar had decided to take up the membership again.
Luckily, the issue didn’t go “out of hands” when the 67-year-old SMG’s entry was delayed (not detained) during one of the two T-20 matches against West Indies last week.
“The delay was not intentional, it was a matter of verifying the credentials to enter the gate, Mr. Gavasakar was stopped by the (inner) security firm operating the gates”, Captain Andrew Dunbar, who headed the security operations at the facility for both the teams, said exclusively over his mobile from USA.
“On behalf of everyone involved, I do apologize for Mr. Gavasakar getting delayed at the gate”.
The Jamaica-born Captain Dunbar has seen several matches at the Sabina Park. However, has not watched him play.
“I did not have the privilege to see Mr. Gavasakar play”, he further added.
“If I had a chance to interact with Mr. Gavasakar, I would certainly enjoy talking about cricket in general with him”, the cricket-fan Dunbar added.
Team India’s debut at the Florida fetched many fans but they were controllable.
“It (controlling them) was not difficult at all, the India fans were great, and easy to interact with. Both teams impressed me, as a cricket fan. I was impressed by the support of India fans, even though it was very short notice to the play in Broward County”, he signed off.
