Rehman Zaid is from Muscat and Fatima is from Oman. They waited for hours to catch a glimpse of India’s superstar cricketers here to turn a long-cherished dream into reality. Rarely fans from such cricketing outposts get to see Indian players up close, but once they got a chance the supporters returned home with some precious memorabilia. There were fans from India, of course, but among the 200-plus supporters assembled at the ICC Cricket Academy were Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Oman, UK and USA citizens – mostly of Indian origin.
The Indian team members were here on Monday evening for a nearly three-hour training session ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20.
With little time wasted, they captured the cricketers’ pictures and videos on their phones, standing a mere 5 metres away and separated only by a barricade and a few security personnel.
“We have come from Oman. We will be watching a few matches of India. We are quite happy that we got such an opportunity to see the cricketers from so close,” said Zaid, who has come along with his family of four.
The fans waited till India’s net session got over, and tried to click them once more.
The cricketers, who trooped into the team bus quickly, however, found some time to sign a few autographs, much to the glee of the fans.
The 17-year-old Fatima managed to get Shreyas Iyer’s sign on a T-shirt, and she was delighted.
“I am so happy. I am so grateful to ICC for allowing us to see and interact with the Indian cricketers from so close. I managed to get the autograph on the T-shirt.
“This is so unreal. I saw Virat. He came and signed this one for me and for others. He is so nice and wonderful. I just missed Shami’s autograph,” she said.
As one would expect, the loudest cheer was reserved for Kohli, a crowd puller wherever he goes.
Now, they plan to return to see their heroes once again on February 20 and 23 for the matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively.
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