SUDHIR KUMAR CHAUDHARY

USPA NEWS - Meet Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary - the one and only Sachin Tendulkar superfan who has cycled 12,000 miles to watch his idol
for over fifteen years, Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary has devoted his life to Sachin Tendulkar with religious zeal and is spotted all over the world by his bright colours and enthusiasm.

Sudhir Kumar is one of three principal roles of a documentary film "Beyond all boundaries" which tells the stories of three different personalities of Indian Cricket and he is shown as a super fan of the sport. Made by film maker Sushrut Jain, the film shows details about the personal life of Sudhir Kumar and the film makers travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres with Sudhir Kumar when filming the documentary. The documentary about Sudhir Kumar is based on his life , his battle with indifference and his love of what he calls the greatest sport on earth - Cricket.

As India, host of the 2011 World Cup of Cricket, begins its campaign to win the Cup after a 28-year drought, three ordinary Indians seek their salvation/escape from a difficult life through their passion for cricket - Sudhir, a penniless superfan who cycles across India to cheer the team; Prithvi, a 12-year old boy wonder who is a cricket prodigy; and Akshaya, a girl cricketer from Mumbai's slums. We follow Sudhir to see what drives the man who has renounced so much, including marriage, for his dream of cheering Team India forever; Akshaya as she competes in the trials for selection to the Mumbai Women's Team, and Prithvi as he copes with the unique pressures of being a cricket phenom in a cricket-crazy nation. watch trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlVoTOEGaV0

It was during Sudhirs recent visit to Perth with India Live and India Today media that I was fortunate enough to spend a week getting to know this very humble and meek man who shared his obsession and enthusiam to cricket with me. He would stand in searing 40 degree Celsius heat (104 farenheight) as he waved his flag hours upon hours chanting 'India' as the clearly distracted Australians played on during the ICC 2015 World Cup played at the World class WACCA in the City of Perth ,Western Australia. Staying at the very humble 'Mountway Apartments' in West Perth , my Australian friends and I spent many evenings teaching the Indian Media about Australian wildlife and culture. Taking advantage of the kindness some locals and heading to the hills to meet his first kangaroos Sudhir even managed to experience being swooped by the iconic Australian Kookaburra.

Since 2003, Sudhir Kumars sole passion has been to watch cricket matches played by India and to support the team. By April 2015, he had attended over 200 matches, often travelling by bicycle to reach the venue of match. He sometimes pedals his cycle to cricket playing venues, as he did to Bangladesh to witness a cricket match in 2007 and to Lahore, Pakistan in 2006. To save money, he sometimes braves ticketless travel in trains to reach venues. 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. He carries a conch with him and blows the conch to announce the arrival of the India cricket team. He paints his body on the previous day of a match and skips sleep that night to preserve the paint on his body. He cycled for 21 days from Muzaffarpur, Bihar to Mumbai to watch Sachin play for India against Australia on 28 October 2003 and this was the first tri-series match where he started supporting India by waving Indian tri-colour.

According to India Today, India's most celebrated cricket fan Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, claimed that he was attacked by Bangladeshi supporters in Dhaka after India's loss in the second one-day international on Sunday 21st June 2015. The 34-year old told a Hindi news channel that he was attacked by a mob after the second ODI against Bangladesh. Sudhir, who constantly displays his passion for Indian cricket, appears almost in all matches involving India with his body painted in tri-colour. "When I cleared out the stadium, individuals mobbed me and began grabbing the Tricolor, breaking the handle of the fan," he said. He also added that he was pelted by stones and his auto-rickshaw was also attacked by the mob. "Security officials came to the rescue when the unrelenting mob chased me", added Sudhir. Meanwhile, Bangladesh have provided the Indian team with maximum security. No matter what sports are involved throughtout the world we always seem to have the mob mentallity , them and us. People need to learn that all sports are about bonding and friendship. leave the hate at home . Bring peace and excitement to the game and set an example to the children of the future. Say NO to violence!