15-year-old cycles for 7 hours to Kanpur for chance to watch Virat Kohli bat, left home at 4 in the morning
A spectacular story emerged from the first day of play in the Kanpur Test match between India and Bangladesh. A video shared on social media revealed how a boy in 10th grade made it all the way to Kanpur’s Green Park stadium from his home in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, covering a 58-kilometre distance on his bicycle.
A video shared by an X user captures the young boy named Kartikey, who states he travelled the distance between Unnao and Kanpur to get the chance to watch the Test match between India and Bangladesh. This is only the third Test match being played in Kanpur’s Green Park since 2010.
A 15-year-old kid rode 58 kilometers on his bicycle just to watch Virat Kohli bat pic.twitter.com/rigqQBoCHq
— A (@_shortarmjab_) September 27, 2024
When questioned by the user capturing the video of the incident, Kartikey laid out how he had arrived at the stadium ahead of the match. “I left at 4 in the morning and arrived before 11,” he said in the video.
The boy revealed he had made the distance himself, trusted to travel alone on the bicycle all the way to the stadium from home. When asked if he had journeyed through the dark in the early morning, he revealed that it hadn’t been an issue for his family.
When asked about who he was hoping to watch play in the Test match, Kartikey was quick to answer with his answer: Virat Kohli. Kohli was subjected to a big reception upon his arrival in Kanpur earlier, and is a clear fan-favourite in the area.
However, Kartikey as well as the other attendants in Kanpur would have to wait for Kohli and the rest of the Indian team’s batting. Rohit Sharma chose to bowl in the first innings, and rain and bad light on the opening day meant that only 35 overs were played in overcast conditions, with Bangladesh ending day one on 107-3.
Kohli’s form
Kartikey and the rest of India will hope for Kohli to improve on his performances in the previous Test in Chennai, where he registered scores of 6 and 17 across the two innings. The Indian batter played his first match in the longest format in 2024, having skipped the England Tests earlier this year. However, his prolonged issues with playing deliveries wide outside the off-stump, as well as certain discomfort against spinners, came to the fore again.
As India look to clinch a series sweep in Kanpur, Kohli will look to score big to keep him in good stead as India gear up for a long Test season, which includes three matches against New Zealand before a five-game Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
