Meet the cricket fans turned Internet sensations of the digital age
The Indian Cricket team has entered the semi-finals by defeating neighboring country Bangladesh on 2ndJuly. Brimming with hope, Indian cricketers will bat yet again to reach the finals of the World Cup.
During the India vs Bangladesh match, an 87-year old granny, Charulata Patel caught the eye of social media because of her enthusiastic cheering for the Indian cricket team in the sea of blue.
Unbeknownst to her, Patel would soon become famous of social media when ICC released a video of Captain Virat Kohli and Vice-Captain Rohit Sharma taking her blessings.
How amazing is this?!
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 2, 2019
India's top-order superstars @imVkohli and @ImRo45 each shared a special moment with one of the India fans at Edgbaston.#CWC19 | #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/3EjpQBdXnX
Wishes of goodwill poured in from big wigs in the Industry.
As per my tradition, I wasn’t watching the match 😊 But I’m going to switch it on now just to see this lady...She looks like a match winner.... https://t.co/cn9BLpwfyj
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 2, 2019
Well Done #TeamIndia
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) July 2, 2019
Another all-round performance from #TeamIndia to beat Bangladesh. Many congratulations to @ImRo45 for hitting 4th century in this #CWC19
Congratulations for reaching Semis.
It was heartening to see 87 year young fan cheering for her Team, #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/BDkLQazpKJ
#TeamIndia - powered by "Maa Ka Aashirwad". Congratulations on the win @BCCI https://t.co/g3l6ZuV3vl
— RIDHIMA PATHAK (@PathakRidhima) July 2, 2019
Fun Fact, a hardcore cricket fan, Charulata was also present when India won their first World Cup in 1983 against West Indies. Her dedication as a fan of the sport was rewarded by the elite of India’s cricketing talent. Superstitious Indian fans consider her appearance in another World Cup to be a good sign that India might make it into the finals.
This is not the first time a dedicated fan has come under the spotlight for being a strong supporter. In another instance, during IPL 2019, the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad ‘RCB girl’ Deepika Ghose became a sensation. She came under the spotlight for wearing an innocuous red dress in support of RCB that won over the hearts of social media. Before she caught the attention of social media, she had 5K followers on Instagram but gained over 150K followers overnight. Currently, she has more than 260K followers on Instagram and has changed her bio to #RCBGirl.
Another cricket fan turned Internet sensation is Sudhir Kumar Gautam from Uttar Pradesh. A Sachin Tendulkar fan who paints himself from top to bottom in tri-colour with the logo of the Indian cricket team has been seen in many matches played by India.
Before the Internet age, the dedication of individual fans would be lost in the din of cheering by other fans. But now hardcore fans may be as easily recognizable as the players that they cheer for.
@sachin_rt's Biggest Fan
— 🔥NGK 🔥 (@AD_Adithya01) February 20, 2018
Happy birthday Sudhir Kumar Gautam 🎂🎂 pic.twitter.com/uA3j44MRUa
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