Fanfare for Team India’s biggest stars has been massive in Melbourne, as India play Australia in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. To catch a glimpse or get a feel of their favourite cricketers, some fans have gone the distance. While a few days ago, a fan tied a cricket bat to a rope in a unique way to get Rohit Sharma‘s autograph, now another fan invaded the pitch during play to meet Virat Kohli. This fan even gave Kohli a hug when he got close to him.
In a video shared online, the pitch invader can be seen going across and putting an arm around Kohli, who returns the favour. However, very soon, it is evident that Kohli wasn’t best pleased with the invader, and he can be seen pointing him to leave the ground.
Watch: Pitch invader tries to hug Virat Kohli
Pitch invader huggs Kohli pic.twitter.com/RAz81zkfWc
— rR (@ryandesa_7) December 27, 2024
Soon after, security guards emerged onto the turf at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to take the invader away.
Kohli has endured an eventful Test match in Melbourne, being at the centre of controversy right from the early hours of Day 1. Kohli was involved in a shoulder-barging clash with Australia’s 19-year-old debutant Sam Konstas, an incident for which he was deducted 20 per cent of his match fees.
However, what would bother Kohli more would be the way things shaped out on Day 2 regarding his batting. After looking classy in the early phases and stitching a 102-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, disaster struck.
Miscommunication between Kohli and Jaiswal for a single saw the latter get run out. Moments later, Kohli himself had to walk back to the pavilion, having succumbed to his vulnerability against balls outside the off-stump.
India ended Day 2 on 164/5, still trailing by 310 runs. It has given Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja a mountain to climb on Day 3, and put India firmly on the back foot.
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