Sourav fan tried the same feat in Australia

HYDERABAD: Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly might not have recognised Nitin Joshi, who breached the security and tried to touch his feet at the Uppal stadium on Tuesday.

But Cyberabad police during their investigation came to know that Nitin Joshi had carried out a similar ‘feat’ in Australia, when Dada was batting a few years ago.

Nitin Joshi, who himself was a club cricketer in Australia, is an ardent Sourav fan. When the Indian team was playing Down Under, Nitin had run up to Sourav and had a quick glance of Dada before being whisked away. “It seems in Australia, spectators who indulge in unruly behaviour by running on the field to meet players, are let off scot-free after paying a fine. Nitin indulges in such acts with the sole aim of getting close to his favourite star,’’ Uppal inspector R Satyanarayana Raju told City Express.

When he tired to do a similar thing at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, he achieved his mission of meeting Dada, but at a cost. The shocked security personnel not only whisked him away but later thrashed him. Nitin came to the stadium along with his friend Rubin Banerjee to watch the match between Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors.

“They were sitting in a gallery, tickets of which cost `15,000 each. For this class, organisers of the match were providing liquor. So Nitin and Rubin drank like there was no tomorrow,” police said.

In an inebriated condition, Nitin decided to repeat his act in Australia but his friend Rubin warned him against the misadventure. But Nitin defied Rubin’s words and ran on to the playing field when the match had come to a small halt after Christian, the Chargers bowler was being attended after he threw up.

“Actually Nitin succeeded in his feat since he was wearing a blue T-shirt, which is the colour of ground staff’s dress. When Nitin came near the boundary, securitymen thought he was part of the ground staff. But suddenly he started running towards the pitch and then the security personnel realised it to be unruly behaviour of a fan,’’ Satyanarayana Raju said. However, no cases were registered against him since police felt Nitin had no ill intention. Nitin hails from a respectable business family who reside in Basheerbagh.

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