Eden is supposed to be a paradise but a group of Sri Lankan fans enjoying the 2nd T20I between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Eden Park had their joy retrenched by security guards as they had their musical instruments confiscated and had themselves being evicted from the premises.
The Sri Lankan party continued, as it always does, despite the poor performance of the team, but the inflexible rules about safety subjected the Lankan contingent to humiliation. According to stuff.co.nz, Dilini Wijensinghe, a fan girl, had told them that everyone was enjoying the drums, but they still had their instruments confiscated without a proper explanation. “They said it’s a rule of Eden Park but it feels very different because last world cup which was just last year, we took the same drums to Eden Park and then Wellington as well, so why the big difference now,” she held forth her frustration.
Shirly Gunathilake said that the security had asked him to shorten his flag pole which he did, but it was still taken off him because it could “injure” someone.
The incident didn’t go too well with the New Zealand fans either as they took to twitter to express their contempt. “Cricket is about festivities, it’s about fun, it’s about the terraces, it’s about having a good time,” said Hayden Wilson, a New Zealander.
He also complimented the band for creating an atmosphere which otherwise would have made the stadium dull. According to his version, the Sri Lankan fans caused no trouble and everyone, including the New Zealanders, was enjoying the ambience the Lankans had created.
To exacerbate the embarrassment, during the innings break a group of samba drummers walked right passed the group of Sri Lankan fans.
“I don’t blame the individual guards, they’re obviously just following inflexible rules that are supposedly about safety – but they just serve to make Eden Park a dull, fun-free zone,” said the infuriated Kiwi fan.
It is not the first time Papare sees a war waged on it. Last year, several times the Papare bands in the Sri Lankan stadiums were silenced on grounds of affecting the concertation of batsmen.
