Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary

Sudhir Chaudhary (born 1981 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar),[1][2] also called Sudhir Kumar Gautam,[2] is an Indian teacher who is fan of the Indian cricket team and Sachin Tendulkar.[3][4][5][6][7] He is widely recognised for attending every home match the Indian team has played since 2007.[8] For some overseas tours, he also collects funds from the cricket loving public.[2] He is usually seen in stadium with his body painted in the national colours of India, waving the national flag in the live telecast of the matches.[9][10]

Personal life

Sudhir Choudhary was born in a very poor family in a semi-rural place of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. He became obsessed with Indian cricket and a fan of Sachin Tendulkar at the age of 6. He left his studies at the age of 14 when he was in his secondary school. He is unemployed, having previously worked for a milk company and trained as a teacher.[11] He postponed his marriage so that he could watch all the matches played by the Indian cricket team,[12] and wants to follow the team all over the world, wherever it plays.[12] This style of living followed by Sudhir Kumar has made his parents unhappy,[12] and he once threatened self-immolation if he was not assured of watching all cricket matches played by the Indian cricket team.[13] He declared that his life is dedicated to watching Indian cricket matches and he lives his life on public support.[13]

Sudhir Kumar is one of three principal roles of a documentary film Beyond All Boundaries which tells the stories of three different personalities of Indian cricket and he is shown as a super fan of the sport.[14][15] Made by film maker Sushrut Jain, the film shows details about the personal life of Sudhir Kumar.

After the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, Sudhir keeps cheering for the Indian cricket team sporting "Miss-U Tendulkar" on his body.

Cricket fan
Sudhir Chaudhary at the Chepauk stadium, Chennai

Since 2003, Sudhir Chaudhary's passion has been to watch cricket matches played by India and to support the team. By April 2010, he had attended approximately 150 matches, often traveling by bicycle to reach the venue of match.[16] He sometimes pedals his cycle to cricket playing venues, as he did to Bangladesh to witness a cricket match in 2007 [17] and to Lahore, Pakistan in 2006.[18] To save money, he sometimes braves ticketless travel in trains to reach venues.[16][19] When attending cricket matches, he paints his body with the tri- colour, the colours of India flag, and he usually paints the name of Tendulkar on his chest.[20] He carries a conch with him and blows the conch to announce the arrival of the India cricket team.[20] Sudhir Chaudhary paints his body on the previous day of a match and skips sleep that night to preserve the paint on his body.[20] He cycled for 21 days from Muzaffarpur, Bihar to Mumbai to watch Sachin play for India against Australia on 28 October 2003[21] and this was the first tri-series match where he started supporting India by waving Indian tri-colour.[22]

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup

During the World Cup, Sudhir sported a kooky crown - a replica World Cup trophy. Sudhir's crowning moment came on April 2, 2011, the day India defeated Sri Lanka in the final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, to become the world champions. Sachin Tendulkar himself signaled Sudhir who was sitting among the cheering Indian fans, to come to the Indian dressing room and join the team's celebrations.[23] Tendulkar asked Zaheer Khan to bring the World Cup over. Tendulkar shook hands with Sudhir Gautam, hugged him and finally let him lift the cup from Zaheer’s hands. Tendulkar allowed Sudhir to hold the World Cup along with him and Sudhir celebrated the occasion by posing for photographs.[24] Sudhir chanted ’India’ as he lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 trophy.[25][26]

Apology by the police

In March 2010, a Senior Police officer intercepted and thrashed Sudhir Kumar in Kanpur, when he tried to shake hands with Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session. Later, after Tendulkar's intervention and request he was let off, and the police officer tendered an apology to Sudhir Kumar, repenting the event.[4] Sudhir Kumar stopped the practice of scaling fences to reach the team to celebrate a win, only after Tendulkar advised against such practice.[23] After this incident, the BCCI has sponsored Sudhir Kumar for every match.

Attack by Bangladesh Cricket fans

In 2015, during India - Bangladesh series in Mirpur, he was attacked and harassed by Bangladesh fans booing against India, when he was trying to leave the stadium. He feared for his life but was eventually rescued by Bangladesh Police. [27]

References
  1. Bajpai, Shalabh Anand; Sumit Jha (27 November 2009). "Cricket fever hits Kanpur". Times of India. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  2. "Sachin fan pedals to Bangladesh". The Tribune. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. "A fan who gifts Sachin 1,000 litchis every year". DNA. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  4. "Police apologise to Sachin fan". That's Cricket. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  5. "Lahli goes berserk for Sachin Tendulkar - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  6. Ali, Qaiser Mohammad (13 November 2009). "Sachin: A player who is the game itself". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  7. Nayudu, Vinay (28 October 2003). "Fans queue up outside Wankhede". Indian Express. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  8. "Briefly". The Tribune. 12 February 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  9. Binoy, George (4 June 2007). "A snake charmer and an investment guru". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  10. "Sachin is this fan's match ticket". Times of India. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  11. "Sudhir Choudhary – A Die-Hard Sachin Fan". cricages.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  12. "Sachin is this fan's match ticket". Times of India. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  13. "A fan who gifts Sachin 1,000 litchis every year". DNA. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  14. Bhattacharya, Buddaditya (11 October 2013). "Being a sport". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  15. Beyond All Boundaries, 1 April 2013, retrieved 9 August 2015
  16. Sugavanam, Saisudha (22 April 2010). "India's most devoted cricket fan?". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  17. "Sachin fan pedals to Bangladesh". The Tribune. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  18. "Sachin is this fan's match ticket". Times of India. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  19. http://www.cricketcountry.com/cricket-articles/Sachin-Tendulkar-s-most-dedicated-fan-to-complete-a-decade-of-god-worship/32398
  20. Lokapally, Vijay (12 November 2013). "'I get affection from Sachin… and match tickets'". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  21. Nayudu, Vinay (28 October 2003). "Fans queue up outside Wankhede". Indian Express. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  22. Laha, Somshuvra (6 November 2013). "Sachin's fan Sudhir just likes waving the flag for him". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  23. Lokapally, Vijay (12 November 2013). "'I get affection from Sachin… and match tickets'". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  24. Sharda, Ugra. "Three tales from Indian cricket". espn crick info 4.8.2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  25. Chakravartty, Sougat. "Sudhir Choudhrie: The ultimate devotee of Indian cricket". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  26. Barton, Joe. "Superfan readies for Sachin's last stand". sportsfan.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  27. Muthu, Alagappan. "Indian fan given security cover in Mirpur". espn crick info. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
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