In the midst of Israel and Hamas’ continuing conflict, a pro-Palestinian pitch invader tries to hug India’s Virat Kohli during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final on November 19 at the Narendra Modi stadium.

India suffered greatly when Australia won the Cricket World Cup for a record-tying sixth time. Apart from the two teams, there was a pitch invader at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad that made news.

A guy sporting a T-shirt that said “Free Palestine” and “Stop Bombing Palestine” and a mask that matched the colours of the Palestinian flag raced onto the pitch when India was batting. He had the Pride Flag in his hand.

Who is the WC finals pitch invader?

In the 14th over of India against Australia, with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul batting, the Palestine supporters flooded the ground. He raced onto the pitch at Kohli, hopping the fence around the ground. The game halted briefly as he attempted to embrace the batsman and unfold the Pride Flag he was holding.

Security personnel quickly swept him away. As he was being carried away, he revealed his identity to the media: John. “Hi, I’m John. He was apparently heard stating, “My name is John… I am from Australia. I entered (the field) to meet Virat Kohli. I support Palestine.” 

Wen Johnson is the intruder that was apprehended and brought to the Chandkheda Police Station in Ahmedabad. He has allegedly been supporting Palestine during the recent Israel-Hamas conflict and is an Australian of Chinese and Filipino ancestry. He says he’s a fan of Kohli too.

The Ahmedabad Police have filed a complaint against the accused under sections 332 and 447 of the IPC for entering the Gujarat Cricket Association stadium without permission. It is said that he is in custody.

Political demonstrations are prohibited during cricket matches by the International Cricket Council, which oversees the game. However, Johnson is a foreign national, and the PTI article states that it is unknown at this time what action would be done against him.

The pitch invasion took place prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister of Australia, was with him.

At least 70,000 people were crammed into the stadium, including politicians and Bollywood stars like Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Shah Rukh Khan. The event is being investigated as a major security violation.

The guests included Nita Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Foundation, and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.”There has been a major security breech! All About Cricket, a well-known cricket fan page on X, previously Twitter, questioned, “How is a “Save Palestine” T-shirt even allowed inside the stadium?”

For the last game, a paramilitary group and 6,000 police officers were sent in. Within the stadium were one Rapid Action Force (RAF) company and over 3,000 police officers. Drone teams, Chetak Commando, and the National Disaster Relief Force all had two teams each.

Oftentimes, invaders are protestors or admirers. These instances do not only occur in cricket; they also occur in football, tennis, and, shockingly, snooker. Pitch invaders haven’t hurt anybody yet, but security lapses are a major worry.

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