Barely days after a fan breached the security cordon in the Hyderabad Test to set up a mid-pitch rendezvous with Indian captain Virat Kohli, a near-repeat was enacted with Rohit Sharma during the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal between Mumbai and Bihar at the Just Cricket Ground near here.
It was also the second such incident in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year, following the one at the Alur Ground in Mumbai’s opening match, when a couple of spectators had charged onto the field to take selfies with Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane.
On Sunday, at the start of the 11th over of the Mumbai innings, a fan, later identified as Bharath, jumped the fence and ran towards Rohit. Curiously none of the police personnel present at the site -- five in number -- chased the fan, allowing him a full minute to first try and hug Rohit, then shake hands with him and before touching his feet.
He ran back to the spectators’ area jumping triumphantly in the air and high-fived his friends in the crowd on return. After being let off with a warning, he managed to stay on till the end of the match.
A KSCA official said that the incident would not have happened if the police and the security guards had been stationed near the boundary and assured that adequate steps will be taken for the next match on Monday.
Later when Mumbai match-winner Tushar Deshpande was asked about the incident, he cheekily replied, “It is going to happen. He is Rohit Sharma and it is an open ground. But he was quite calm [after the incident].”
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