IPL 2025: Banned Eden Gardens pitch invader reveals what Virat Kohli told him after hug

Virat Kohli hugs Rituparno before security guards took him away during the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens.

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Kolkata: A day in police custody is a small price to pay for “touching god” for Rituparno Pakhira. So is aban on entering Eden Gardens for the rest of this IPL season.At the IPL opener on Saturday, Pakhira, a high school student, scaled the Eden fence and invaded the pitch to dive at his idol Virat Kohli ’s feet.Kohli picked him up and hugged him before security whisked him away.“The moment I touched his feet, Virat Kohli sir, asked my name and said, ‘Jaldi se bhaag jaa (run away fast). He even asked the security to not hit me,” the 18-year-old said.Arrested and slapped with BNS sections on application of criminal force, criminal trespass and reckless action putting lives or safety of others in danger, Pakhira had been sent to police custody for a day.

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