New Delhi: In India, the craze for star batter Virat Kohli isn’t anything new as he has fans in almost every age group in the country. As India take on Bangladesh in the second Test that is being played in Kanpur’s Green Park, a young fanboy had come to witness the Day 1 clash. His sole objective was to see his star Kohli bat as he travelled 58 kilometers on a cycle from Unnao to Kanpur.
A video has gone viral on social media where Kartikeya, a 15-year-old boy from Unnao can be seen talking about covering the 58 km distance, all for his craze of getting to watch Virat Kohli play. He said that he began cycling at 4:00 am when it was dark and reached the Kanpur stadium at 11:00 am on Friday. Kartikeya, a class 10 student, was asked if his parents stopped him from coming to which he replied that he was allowed to go on his own.
Watch the video here –
A 15-year-old kid rode 58 kilometers on his bicycle just to watch Virat Kohli bat pic.twitter.com/rigqQBoCHq
— A (@_shortarmjab_) September 27, 2024
However, his wish of watching Kohli bat wasn’t fulfilled as India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to field first after winning the toss, under the overcast conditions. The Indian team took the field with the same team which they played in the Chennai Test as homeboy Kuldeep Yadav was again benched, denying prospects of the three-spinners squad.
Stumps called early on Day 1
The first day didn’t bring much of a game as it was highly expected due to the gloomy Kanpur weather. The city is going through incessant rainfall from the last couple of days and the forecast for the first three days of the Test match isn’t promising at all. Nonetheless, after a one-hour-delayed start, India were able to pick three wickets – Akash Deep getting two and Ravichandran Ashwin scalping one.
Akash removed opener Zakir Hasan who edged it to Yashavi Jaiswal at gully for a 24-ball duck. He then trapped Shadman Islam in front of the stumps to give the visitors a second blow, on the score of 29. Although the umpire gave it not out but Akash was adamant about Rohit taking the review and to India’s wonder, it was indeed out.
After the two early blows, the Bangladesh innings was steadied by skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (31) and Mominul Haque as they added 51 runs for the third wicket. Ashwin put an end to Shanto’s innings, getting him on his pads while Mominul remained unbeaten on 40 alongside Mushfiqur Rahim (6*) at the end of the day’s play. Only 35 overs could be possible on Day 1 as persistent rain washed the remainder of the second and whole third session which forced early stumps and Bangladesh ending the day at 107/3.
Kartikeya, a 15-year-old boy from Unnao, cycled for seven hours as he covered a distance of 58 kilometers to Kanpur to watch Virat Kohli take the crease in the ongoing IND vs BAN 2nd Test. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
