A Bangladesh cricket superfan, known as 'Tiger Roby', was rushed to a Kanpur hospital on Friday (September 27, 2024) after "falling ill" during the first day of the second India vs Bangladesh Test, at Green Park Stadium. (Match Blog | Streaming | More Cricket News)
While Roby initially claimed to have been attacked by Indian spectators in Kanpur, the police refuted his allegations and the superfan too backtracked eventually.
“They hit me on my back and lower abdomen and I could not breathe,” Roby was quoted as saying in a Sportstar report, even as the security personnel rushed him to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment.
But in a statement issued from his hospital bed later, he said he merely felt unwell and was given the requisite assistance by the local police.
"I fell ill and the police brought me to the hospital. Now I am feeling much better. My name is Roby and I have come from Bangladesh," he stated in a short video clip.
Abhishek Pandey, ACP (Kalyanpur), was quoted as saying by news agency PTI that Roby received immediate medical care and insisted that he had not been assaulted as alleged in early reports.
"During the Test match between India and Bangladesh, one of the spectators whose name is Tiger, suddenly fell ill," the officer stated in the report.
"As soon as he fell ill, he was picked up by the police and was sent to the medical team for treatment. He is fine now and a liaison officer as been attached to him so that he can get help if needed.
"There were some reports of assault but these are baseless, no such incident happened with him. He might have taken a fall, this is what we have been able to gather," he added.
earlier, an Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association official was quoted as saying by PTI that Roby could not communicate the exact sequence of events, but it was clear that he was in distress.
During an interaction with media, he indicated that he had been punched in his abdomen during an altercation.
"As he came out of the stands, he was wincing in pain and seemed to be fainting. He was given a chair to sit but he fell," the official said.
A police officer present at the stadium said the fan was provided first aid and an ambulance was called for him.
"We do not know if he was hit by somebody. We have a constable in that stand to keep an eye on the fans. We could not understand what he was saying. Probably he had pain.
"The ambulance was taking some time to arrive so the in-stadia medical team has taken him to a nearby facility," the officer said.
Earlier, in the opening session of the second Test, Bengal pacer Akash Deep struck twice in overcast conditions to dislodge both openers but Bangladesh fought back through skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto to reach 74 for two at lunch.
However, India's in-form all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin trapped Shanto in front in the post-lunch session to leave the visitors three down, before receding light due to overcast conditions forced play to be stopped. Bangladesh were batting at 107 for three at that stage.
(With PTI inputs)
