MELBOURNE: It was the 97th over of the Australian innings. Pat Cummins and Steve Smith were cruising through and India were looking for their first breakthrough of the day. And then, out of nowhere, ran in a fan from the Yarra Park side onto the field towards the Indian slip cordon.
He ran straight toward Rohit Sharma, who was shocked and understandably upset before evading the invader. Virat Kohli was next. He stood firm as the intruder put his hand on the shoulder while the former India captain handled the situation without losing his cool. It didn’t take long for the security personnel to get there and escort the intruder out of the ground.
Wearing a blue shirt that read “Free” written on the Ukrainian flag, the fan was soon taken away from the venue. Later in the day, Victoria police released a statement saying that they have charged the 25-year-old who ran into the Melbourne Cricket Ground at about 11 AM on Friday. “He was apprehended by security and handed over to police to be interviewed. The 25-year-old NSW man has been charged with entering a sporting competition space and disrupting play, pursuant to the Major Sporting Events Act 67(2) and trespass. He has been bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 3 March 2025,” the statement read.
While the police did not reveal the name of the intruder, pictures indicated that it was the same fan who ran onto the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad during the ODI World Cup final between India and Australia last year. Back then, he was wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ T-shirt and ran on the field while Kohli was batting in the middle. Later, he was identified as Wen Johnson, a 24-year-old from Sydney.
Better known as ‘Pyjama Mann’ on TikTok, the youngster has been a habitual offender who even ran onto the field during the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup in Australia last year. One scroll through his Instagram handle indicates that the NSW man has been invading sporting events to concerts with the Ukrainian flag on his T-shirt of late.
Later in the day, he even posted pictures from the run-in at the MCG with a caption that read “Ran up to Virat Kohli at the Boxing Day Cricket 2024. I said to him “Hey Virat Kohli do you remember me? I ran to you at the 2023 World Cup final. He was cool with me and laughed.” While it made for an interesting moment, the incident also raised questions on the MCG security and how a habitual offender got into the venue for the high-profile contest.
