The fourth Test between India and Australia got underway at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday (9 March). It was a full house with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attending the game for the first hour. The two PMs also took a lap of honour and did a few other limelight-hogging things. Nevertheless, the game got underway and fans enjoyed a good contest with the pitch offering a balance between the bat and the ball.
While Indian bowlers had to toil hard for wickets, Australian batters were denied many chances of scoring runs. India’s pacer Mohammed Shami did a handful of damage as he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne in the first session and Peter Handscomb in the second session. While all of this was going on, some Indian fans found the time and courage to heckle the star India pacer by chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans from the stands.
In a video going viral on the internet, a group of fans start with chants of “Surya, Surya” and then suddenly start chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. The guy making the video then heckles Shami by shouting the pacer’s name and follows it up with the famous chant and the video is then shared proudly on social media.
This action was called out by several fans on social media.