Frenzied fans mob Yuvi,Bhajji; embarrassed stadium officials ask for more security cover

A Sizable crowd waiting for a glimpse and,if possible,autographs of cricketers Yuvraj Singh,Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan,had turned up at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium where the Ranji Trophy tie between Mumbai and Punjab was going on. Braving the cold and overcast conditions,the cricket fans waited for the moment when the players would return to the pavilion.

Their prayers was answered sooner than expected at 3.15 pm,when the umpires called off the day’s play due to bad light. As the Punjab players returned to the pavillion,the fans looked desperate to get autographs from Yuvraj and Harbhajan. Yuvraj obliged a few fans and signed autographs for them. However,in the absence of security guards to manage the crowd,a large number of fans jumped over the fence and gathered just outside the boundary rope. Not happy with the way the number of the fans increasing on the field,Yuvraj refused to further entertain fans.The persistent fans even followed Yuvraj inside the ground.

After Yuvraj,it was Harbhajan’s turn to get mobbed. Like Yuvraj,he first obliged the fans but soon returned to the team’s dressing room. But a few lucky ones like Mayank Aggarwal managed to get autographs from all three cricketers. “I am over the moon. I am going to show it to all my friends,” said Mayank.

Left red-faced after the incident,the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium officials have asked Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) to beef up security to avoid such incidents. “We have talked to PCA officials and asked them to provide more security to control the crowd,” said Harish Sharma,coach at the stadium.