The assault on Amit Bhandari in Delhi on Monday was unprecedented and has shocked the cricket fraternity like never before.

While for former India batsman Arun Lal it’s “horrible”, for Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain, it’s “unthinkable”.

Bhandari, who played two ODIs for India, was attacked by around a dozen goons when he was watching a practice session of the Delhi probables for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in his capacity of being chairman of Delhi and District Cricket Association’s selection committee. Bhandari was hospitalised with multiple injuries, but was discharged late on Monday evening.

The reason behind the attack on Bhandari was non-selection of a player, Anuj Dedha, for Delhi U-23 team.

Expressing his shock when asked about the matter, Lal, on Tuesday, said: “This is the first time that I have heard about such a thing. It’s absolutely horrible… It can’t get worse probably. It just tells you where we are going as a society. It’s unpardonable. I can’t even think of something like that happening.”

Lal, however, said that pressuring a selector or captain to favour a certain player is nothing new in Indian domestic cricket.

“We have heard a lot about politics being involved with cricketing matters such as selection, that has always been there. Selectors being pressurised for selection is nothing new… Sometimes you are pressurised by a minister, sometimes by officials. Even I had faced similar issues when I was the captain.

“But never had it turned into violence… This is sheer violence,” Lal said on the sidelines of the Bengal probables’ training session at Eden Gardens. Lal is the coach-cum-mentor of the team.

The 63-year-old added that such an incident doesn’t go well with the spirit of sport.

“Sport overall is for gentlemen… And cricket is called a gentleman’s game. I simply can’t believe that such a thing can happen in cricket. I have heard incidents of crudity in Delhi, but this was something new.”

The same disbelief was echoed by Sourav as well.

Speaking on the sidelines of a promotional on Tuesday, Sourav, who is also the Cricket Association of Bengal president, said: “I was surprised and shocked when I came to know about the incident. I could never think that such a thing could happen in cricket.

“But strict action should be taken against those guilty and they should be punished appropriately.”

Sourav Ganguly The Telegraph picture