Famous Indian cricket fan Sudhir Gautam’s claim of being attacked outside the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium after the second one-day international on Sunday took the social media by storm as the Tigers supporters were criticised heavily.
Sudhir, a devoted fan of Sachin Tendulkar who has been following the Indian team to most corners of the world, claimed he had been mobbed by people as soon as he had left the venue following India’s maiden ODI series defeat to Bangladesh.
“As soon as I left the stadium, people mobbed me and started snatching the Tricolour, breaking the handle of the flag. Two policemen who were on-duty outside the stadium came to my rescue and they escorted me to an autorickshaw.
“But the mob further attacked the auto and tried to break into it. They even hurled stones on the vehicle, but luckily the auto was covered completely and I did not get hurt,” Sudhir told the media yesterday.
The claim came however was turned down by a witness. Asif Mahmud Ovi, a photojournalist who was leaving the stadium after the match, said: “I never saw Sudhir getting phsycially assaulted. It was about 11:45pm when Sudhir got out of the stadium to find himself surrounded by Bangladesh supporters. He was being mocked as supporters chanted ‘Mauka, Mauka’ but he was never attacked by anyone.
“There was a big gathering around him when he was trying to hire an autorickshaw. Two policemen came to help him so that he could leave the spot, but I never saw any stones being thrown at him,” said Asif.
Even if Sudhir’s claimed encounter was true, this was not the first time that a true fan had to experience such a situation.
Devout Tigers fan Shoaib Ali, also known as Tiger Shoaib for his customary Tiger body paint, has faced similar situations in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2013. But Shoaib never made an issue out of it and thus it went unreported in media.
“Bangladesh were winning the second test in Harare and there was a decent crowd in the stands that day. Suddenly, all the people started pushing each other. For a moment, it seemed they were enjoying and having a good time but within moments I found myself surrounded by a big group. They were teasing me and hit me on the head,” said Shoaib.
“I went back to the hotel … a few Bangladesh cricketers had noticed what had happened and asked me to stay away from local crowd,” he added.
In Sri Lanka, a small piece of advice probably saved him from facing a similar incident following Bangladesh’s three-wicket win against the home side in the third ODI at Pallekale.
“Bangladesh won its first ever ODI against hosts Sri Lanka. The local crowd were frustrated. Thankfully, there were a few who advised me to stay back in the stadium and get out as late as possible, to let the crowd get calm outside the stadium. I think that was a good advice,” the Bangladesh fan said.
