Picture Credit: Twitter
The ongoing pink-ball Test in Bengaluru has seen 100 per cent crowd being allowed in the stadium as the numbers of daily infections of COVID-19 are currently on the decline in India. While cricket was mostly being played inside closed doors amid the pandemic, officials have taken measure of the Coronavirus situation before allowing a specific number of people to watch the game.
However, with fans back in the stadium, there are challenges of different sorts and security is definitely one among them. In what could be described as a case of a security breach, as many as three fans entered the playing area towards the end of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka. One of them ran towards Virat Kohli and even managed to get a selfie with the ex-India captain before the intruders were chased away by police officials.
All of it unfolded during the sixth over of Sri Lankan second innings. While the play had been interrupted as a delivery from Mohammed Shami had hit the visiting batter Kusal Mendis and the latter was receiving treatment, the fans thought it as an opportunity to see their hero from close quarters and breached the security.
Notably, this is not the first time such an incident has happened in India. Even during the first Test in Mohali, a similar incident had happened. Kohli enjoys a massive fan following worldwide and more so in India where he remains one of the most prominent poster boys of the sport.
However, his lean phase with the bat continued as the right-handed batter's batting average dipped below 50 for the first time since November 2017. Kohli scored 23 in the 1st innings and 13 runs in the second which has taken his Test batting average to 49.95.
Even as he hasn't scored a hundred in international cricket in over two years, he remains the number five ranked batter in the world in Test match cricket and the best among the Indian batters.