TIMES AT THE WORLD CUP
Virat’s touching gesture for the old and the beautiful
Indian Skipper Promises Tickets For 87-Year-Old Charulata Patel
Gaurav.Gupta@timesgroup.com
Birmingham:04.07.2019
Even as millions of fans are still struggling for tickets to India’s semifinal and final matches in the 2019 World Cup, Charulata Patel can claim to be amongst the lucky ones to already have them in her purse. The 87-year-old South Africa-born Gujarati is a London resident and has become a sensation on social media ever since Indian captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma touched her feet to seek her blessings, and spent some time with her at Edgbaston after India beat Bangladesh by 31 runs on Tuesday.
During the brief meeting with the spirited lady, who came all the way from London to watch the Men-in-Blue despite being slightly ill, Kohli told her that she now has to turn up for all of India’s remaining three games, promising tickets for her and her granddaughter, Anjali, who accompanied her to the stadium.
“Yesterday, when he hugged her, he said: ‘Please come for all our matches’. But she replied: ‘Beta, I don’t have tickets.’ He said: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll arrange the tickets, and he kept his word. So, now we have the tickets for all of India’s remaining games — the Leeds match (against Sri Lanka on July 6), the semifinal (both the semifinals actually) and the final,” Charulata’s granddaughter, Anjali, told TOI from London. “We asked for a few more tickets, but he couldn’t arrange that many,” she chuckled.
Sharing the emotional moment with his ‘special fan’, Kohli later tweeted: “Also would like to thank all our fans for all the love & support & especially Charulata Patel ji. She’s 87 and probably one of the most passionate & dedicated fans I’ve ever seen. Age is just a number; passion takes you leaps & bounds. With her blessings, on to the next one.” Throughout the match, the TV cameras kept panning on the enthusiastic fan. Former England captain Michael Vaughan described a TV shot of Charulata’s enthusiastic support as “the picture of the World Cup”.
ICC later shared a small video of her. “They’re playing very well. I’m praying to God that they keep on winning. I’m watching cricket for the last 20 years. The first time I went to watch a game live was in The Oval last year, so this is just this second time,” Charulata told Times Now.
You don’t have to guess hard to know her favourites players/ “Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma,” she said. “When Virat and Rohit touched my feet, I wanted to get up, but they asked me to keep sitting on my chair. I gave them my blessings, and hugged and kissed them,” he said.
There are many elderly people amongst the spectators in England. You do wonder how Charulata managed to attract the attention of Virat & Co. “It’s all thanks to the Indian guys. The Indian team’s media manager, Moulin Parikh, and a few other media personnel approached us for a few interviews. I asked if he could arrange for my grandma to meet the team or at least some players. Because of her age and illness, this would most probably be the last World Cup she would be able to see at a stadium. So, it meant a lot for her to see the team. Moulin said: ‘Look, I’ll arrange something for you when there are just two overs left for the game.’ And he did make it to happen,” she revealed.
MY PLEASURE: Virat Kohli greets Charulata Patel at Edgbaston on Tuesday
Virat’s touching gesture for the old and the beautiful
Indian Skipper Promises Tickets For 87-Year-Old Charulata Patel
Gaurav.Gupta@timesgroup.com
Birmingham:04.07.2019
Even as millions of fans are still struggling for tickets to India’s semifinal and final matches in the 2019 World Cup, Charulata Patel can claim to be amongst the lucky ones to already have them in her purse. The 87-year-old South Africa-born Gujarati is a London resident and has become a sensation on social media ever since Indian captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma touched her feet to seek her blessings, and spent some time with her at Edgbaston after India beat Bangladesh by 31 runs on Tuesday.
During the brief meeting with the spirited lady, who came all the way from London to watch the Men-in-Blue despite being slightly ill, Kohli told her that she now has to turn up for all of India’s remaining three games, promising tickets for her and her granddaughter, Anjali, who accompanied her to the stadium.
“Yesterday, when he hugged her, he said: ‘Please come for all our matches’. But she replied: ‘Beta, I don’t have tickets.’ He said: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll arrange the tickets, and he kept his word. So, now we have the tickets for all of India’s remaining games — the Leeds match (against Sri Lanka on July 6), the semifinal (both the semifinals actually) and the final,” Charulata’s granddaughter, Anjali, told TOI from London. “We asked for a few more tickets, but he couldn’t arrange that many,” she chuckled.
Sharing the emotional moment with his ‘special fan’, Kohli later tweeted: “Also would like to thank all our fans for all the love & support & especially Charulata Patel ji. She’s 87 and probably one of the most passionate & dedicated fans I’ve ever seen. Age is just a number; passion takes you leaps & bounds. With her blessings, on to the next one.” Throughout the match, the TV cameras kept panning on the enthusiastic fan. Former England captain Michael Vaughan described a TV shot of Charulata’s enthusiastic support as “the picture of the World Cup”.
ICC later shared a small video of her. “They’re playing very well. I’m praying to God that they keep on winning. I’m watching cricket for the last 20 years. The first time I went to watch a game live was in The Oval last year, so this is just this second time,” Charulata told Times Now.
You don’t have to guess hard to know her favourites players/ “Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma,” she said. “When Virat and Rohit touched my feet, I wanted to get up, but they asked me to keep sitting on my chair. I gave them my blessings, and hugged and kissed them,” he said.
There are many elderly people amongst the spectators in England. You do wonder how Charulata managed to attract the attention of Virat & Co. “It’s all thanks to the Indian guys. The Indian team’s media manager, Moulin Parikh, and a few other media personnel approached us for a few interviews. I asked if he could arrange for my grandma to meet the team or at least some players. Because of her age and illness, this would most probably be the last World Cup she would be able to see at a stadium. So, it meant a lot for her to see the team. Moulin said: ‘Look, I’ll arrange something for you when there are just two overs left for the game.’ And he did make it to happen,” she revealed.
MY PLEASURE: Virat Kohli greets Charulata Patel at Edgbaston on Tuesday
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