Fan breaches security to hug Virat Kohli, touch his feet during 2nd IND vs AFG T20I
A young fan breached security and hugged Virat Kohli, also touching his feet, during the second India vs Afghanistan T20I at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 14. As per reports, the young man was detained by Madhya Pradesh police and was taken to Tukoganj police station for interrogation.
The second match between India and Afghanistan marked Kohli’s comeback to T20I cricket, having last represented the Men in Blue during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. He had missed the first T20I in Mohali due to personal reasons.
While the crowd was extremely pleased to see the superstar cricketer back in the T20I format for India, a fan went a bit too far. He somehow managed to breach security and reach near Kohli. He then hugged the former India captain and touched his feet as well.
News agency PTI quoted a police official as saying that the fan had a ticket for the game and entered the Holkar Stadium from the Narendra Hirwani Gate. He added that the man seemed to be a big Kohli fan and managed to enter the ground in Indore by climbing the fence of the spectators’ gallery.
The future course of action will be decided on the basis of interrogation, the official told the news agency.
Meanwhile, an X user Aarav, with the handle @sigma_male, shared a video of a person hugging Kohli during the match and claimed that he was the one who breached security to meet the cricketer.
He shared the clip and wrote:
“My wish of hugging Virat Kohli got fulfilled today.”
There has no official confirmation over the identity of the man who hugged Kohli and touched his feet.
Virat Kohli scored a quick 29 on his T20I comeback
Kohli looked in impressive form in his first T20I match since November 2022. After Rohit Sharma fell for a duck in a chase of 173, the 35-year-old came in and slammed 29 off 16 balls, hitting five fours. He perished to Naveen-ul-Haq, caught at mid-off while attempting another big hit.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (68 off 34) and Shivam Dube (63* off 32), however, ensured an easy win for the Men in Blue, adding 92 for the third wicket. The hosts cruised home in 15.4 overs with six wickets in hand.
The third and final T20I of the series will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 17.