The game of cricket in India is no less than a religion and thus the esteemed cricketers enjoy the near god-like status. From the hotel personnel to the bus drivers, everyone wants to get a glimpse of their favourite player.
While the popularity of cricket was always high in India, the craze has gone to a different level altogether in the last decade or so. No wonder, the cases of fans breaching security to meet their hero have become a common occurrence.
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On Saturday (October 12), cricketing fraternity witnessed the same issue when a fan breached security to enter the field. During the third day of the second Test between India and South Africa in Pune, the fan ran straight towards Rohit Sharma and in his attempts to kiss his feet, he took the cricketer down with him, before he was escorted by the security staff. In the process, he also ended up invading the pitch.
The incident left former India opener Sunil Gavaskar fuming as he took security personnel to the task while commentating.
“These incidents happen because security people are not watching the crowd but are watching the match. This has been the perennially problem in India. The security is not there to watch the match for free. They are there to stop such interruptions from happening,” Gavaskar said.
“I say put the camera on the security and check whether they are watching the match or the crowd. This is a dangerous security issue which is what you are there for, to make sure no one goes into the crowd. Anyone can cause damage to a player. It has happened in the past, why take a chance. Remember, it is not easy to get into the ground. There are a lot of barricades, and still these incidents are happening,” he added.
Coming to the match, India rode on skipper Virat Kohli’s career-best 254 not out to post a colossal 601/5 (declared) in the first innings Pune Test. Apart from Kohli, Mayank Agarwal scored 108 while Ravindra Jadeja (91), Ajinkya Rahane (59) and Cheteshwar Pujara (58) made valuable half-centuries.
In reply, the Proteas were reeling at 197/8 at Tea on Day 3. Umesh Yadav (3/32), Mohammad Shami (2/33), Ravichandran Ashwin (2/49) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/51) were among the wickets for the hosts.
