NEW DELHI, Sept 21: Indian police have expressed surprise over England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff’s claims he was shot at during a one-day series in India in early 2002. Flintoff, hero of the Ashes triumph over Australia, has said in his autobiography Being Freddie that shots were fired at him while he was fielding in a one-dayer in New Delhi and that England team management asked him to keep quiet about it.

“I felt something hit me and, looking down, saw pellets on the ground. You expect to have plastic bottles thrown at you when you are playing on the sub-continent, but you don’t expect to be shot,” extracts quoted in British newspapers said, referring to the one-dayer at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in the Indian capital in January, 2002. “You expect to have plastic bottles thrown at you when you are playing on the sub-continent, but you don’t expect to be shot.”

The player says the team’s media manager then asked him not to reveal the incident to the press. However, he feels he should have brought it out into the open.

“Looking back now, I think I should have made more of a stand because I wasn’t there to be shot at. We explained it away as the crowd just being overexcited at the time, but I wasn’t sure about that at all.”

However, Delhi police expressed surprise at the claims.

“If there was any such thing at that time it would have been brought to our attention and action taken. To bring this up after such a long time ... Delhi police has nothing on this matter,” spokesman Ravi Pawar said on Wednesday.

Flintoff claims he was himself rattled by the team management’s decision to play down the incident.

“Nasser Hussain (the captain) got very heated about it in the middle and Phil Neale, the tour manager, came to find out what was going on, but the whole thing seemed to get swept under the carpet,” Flintoff wrote.

“There was a big story back home to do with crowd disturbances, but Andrew Walpole, the England Cricket Board’s media relations manager, told me to play the incident down when I was interviewed the following day.

England had initially raised safety concerns over travelling to the sub-continent, the tour coming soon after the Sept 11 attacks in the US, before being cleared to tour by security officials.

Indian cricket stadia are heavily guarded during international games due to the huge crowds that turn up. Spectators are barred from even carrying water bottles and mobile phones inside the venue.—Agencies