Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, also known as Sudhir Kumar Gautam, is an Indian teacher and cricket entertainer who is a known to be a fan of the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

and

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

. He is widely recognised for attending every home match the Indian team has played since 2007. For some overseas tours, he collects funds from the public. He is usually seen in stadium with his body painted in the national colours of India, waving the national flag in the live telecast of the matches.

Early and personal life

Choudhary was born in a very poor family in a semi-rural place of

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. He became obsessed with Indian 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. He had reportedly postponed his marriage so that he could watch all the matches played by the Indian team, wanting to follow the team wherever it played. This style of living followed by Chaudhary has made his parents unhappy. He once threatened

self-immolation Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature. Etymology The English word ' ...

if he was not assured of watching all cricket matches played by the Indian cricket team. He declared that his life was dedicated to watching Indian cricket matches and he lives his life on public support. Chaudhary is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

. He attended the

Consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

of the

Ram Mandir The Ram Mandir (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Shri Ramlalla Mandir, is a partially constructed Hindu temple, Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, t ...

in January 2024.

Cricket fan

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. He sometimes pedalled his cycle to cricket playing venues, as he did to

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

to witness a cricket match in 2007 and to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan in 2006. To save money, he sometimes braved 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 Indian cricket team. Chaudhary 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.

2011 Cricket World Cup and meeting Tendulkar

During the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while the latter hosted World Cup matches for the first time. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2 ...

, Chaudhary sported a kooky crown on his head, a replica of the Cricket World Cup Trophy. Sudhir's crowning moment came on 2 April 2011, the day India defeated

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

at Wankhede 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. Tendulkar asked Zaheer 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.

Facing attacks

* In March 2010, a Senior Police officer intercepted and thrashed Chaudhary in

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

, when he tried to shake hands with Tendulkar during a practice session. Later, after Tendulkar's intervention and request he was let off, and the police officer tendered an apology to him, repenting the event. He stopped the practice of scaling fences to reach the team to celebrate a win, only after Tendulkar advised against such practice. After this incident, the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

has sponsored him for every home match of the Indian team. * In 2015, during the India - Bangladesh series in Mirpur, he was attacked and harassed by Bangladesh fans booing against India, when he was trying to leave the stadium. He feared for his life but was eventually rescued by Bangladesh Police. * In 2022, He was beaten up by police officers in Muzaffarpur when he went to the station to enquire about his brother's arrest. Coincidently, the station had invited him for its inauguration two years prior.

In popular culture

Chaudhary 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.

References