It’s frustrating to see people celebrating pitch invaders. Just look at the tweet below. “Ruturaj (Gaikwad) earned fans love,” it says. A pitch invasion should never be celebrated. The opinion that most fans have is that they (pitch invaders) are just expressing love. I guess the invasion of personal space and one’s safety is love. This has been happening in cricket for decades, if not centuries. All of us have seen fans breaching security and running to get a glimpse of the great Sachin Tendulkar, but it wasn’t right then, and it isn’t right now.
Where’s the security?
An incident occurred during the India C vs D match in the Duleep Trophy. A fan ran from the stands at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur to touch India C’s captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s feet. The fan didn’t harm anyone, but it certainly raises questions over security.
Gaikwad is one of the most popular and talented players in the world. He’s the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, the second most famous cricket franchise in the world. If, god forbid, something might have happened to him, who is to blame? Something that risks is cricket playing ability.
Might I remind you of the unfortunate case of Monica Seles? The tennis legend was just 19 when a rabid fan came on the court and stabbed her. That ended her career. She returned to the sport but never recovered from the incident mentally. The example may seem extreme, but do we have to wait until something bad happens before taking action?
It’s high time cricket takes such pitch invasion seriously.