Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary | |
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 Chaudhary at theChepauk Stadium inChennai; havingbody painted on him theFlag of India as well as theJersey number and name ofSachin Tendulkar. | |
| Born | (1981-02-20)20 February 1981 (age 44) |
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| Years active | 2003–present |
| Known for | Supporting theIndian national cricket team andSachin Tendulkar |
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Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary,[1][2] also known asSudhir Kumar Gautam,[2] is an Indian teacher and cricket enthusiast who is a known to be afan of theIndian cricket team andSachin Tendulkar.[3][4][5][6][7] He is widely recognised for attending every home match the Indian team has played since 2007.[8] For some overseas tours, he collects funds from the public.[2] He is usually seen in stadium with hisbody painted in thenational colours of India, waving the national flag in the live telecast of the matches.[9][10]
Choudhary was born in a very poor family in a semi-rural place ofMuzaffarpur,Bihar. He became obsessed withIndian Cricket and a fan of Tendulkar at the age of 6. He left his studies at the age of 14 when he was in his secondary school. He was unemployed, having previously worked for a milk company and trained as a teacher.[11] He had reportedly postponed his marriage so that he could watch all the matches played by the Indian team,[12] wanting to follow the team wherever it played.[12] This style of living followed by Chaudhary has made his parents unhappy.[12]
He once threatenedself-immolation if he was not assured of watching all cricket matches played by the Indian cricket team.[13] He declared that his life was dedicated to watching Indian cricket matches and he lives his life on public support.[13]
Chaudhary is aHindu. He attended theConsecration of theRam Mandir in January 2024.[14]
Since 2003, Chaudhary's passion has been to watch cricket matches played by India and to support the team. By April 2010, he had attended approximately 150 matches, often traveling by bicycle to reach the venue of match.[15] He sometimes pedalled his cycle to cricket playing venues, as he did toBangladesh to witness a cricket match in 2007[16] and toLahore, Pakistan in 2006.[17] To save money, he sometimes braved ticketless travel in trains to reach venues.[15][18] When attending cricket matches, he paints his body with the tri-colour, the colours of India flag, and he usually paints the name of Tendulkar on his chest.[19] He carries a conch with him and blows the conch to announce the arrival of the Indian cricket team.[19] Chaudhary paints his body on the previous day of a match and skips sleep that night to preserve the paint on his body.[19] He cycled for 21 days from Muzaffarpur, Bihar to Mumbai to watch Sachin play for India against Australia on 28 October 2003[20] and this was the first tri-series match where he started supporting India by waving Indian tri-colour.[21]
During the2011 Cricket World Cup, Chaudhary sported a kooky crown on his head, a replica of theCricket World Cup Trophy. Sudhir's crowning moment came on 2 April 2011, the day India defeatedSri Lanka in thefinal atWankhede Stadium, Mumbai, to become the world champions. Tendulkar himself signaled him who was sitting among the cheering Indian fans, to come to the Indian dressing room and join the team's celebrations.[22] Tendulkar askedZaheer Khan to bring the World Cup trophy over. Tendulkar shook hands with Chaudhary, hugged him and finally let him lift the cup from Zaheer’s hands. Tendulkar allowed Chaudhary to hold the World Cup along with him and he celebrated the occasion by posing for photographs.[23][24]
Chaudhary is one of three principal roles of a documentary filmBeyond All Boundaries which tells the stories of three different personalities of Indian cricket and he is shown as a super fan of the sport.[27][28] Made by film maker Sushrut Jain, the film shows details about the personal life of Sudhir Kumar.
Cricket supporters | |
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| Team support | |
| Cricketer's support | |
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