Kolkata Knight Riders receive support from Mount Everest base camp
Wangdi Bhutia, a big fan of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 franchise Kolkata Knight Riders displayed his support for the team at the top of Mount Everest.
Sports would be nothing if there wouldn’t be fans to back the players and teams up. From the local club rivalries to the national team at large, the enigma, the pulsating action and the war-cry from the sidelines is all that what makes a sport popular.
And with cricket in India, fan stories are all around. If Sudhir Kumar Gautam had set a benchmark by painting himself in tri-colour and donning the national flag at stadiums, there are several more whose unconditional support becomes synonymous with a particular sport or a team.
However, in a first-of-its kind, a fan was spotted with a Kolkata Knight Riders placard on the base of Mount Everest as the former champions battle for a play-off spot in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. While a few IPL clubs do have registered fan clubs, such an act hasn’t been seen before in the history of the razzmatazz event.
READ | IPL 2018: Why Virat Kohli furiously wanted to know 3rd umpire’s name
The fan, who identifies himself as Wangdi Bhutia and is a resident of Darjeeling in West Bengal, states: “Hello everyone. I’m Wangdi Bhutia from Darjeeling. Now I’m at the Everest base camp. I’m doing the journey of Mount Everest. For this, I’ve already been in camp 3 for acclimatization. This is my third attempt to scale Mount Everest. This time I’m very happy because I’m carrying the flag of Kolkata Knight Riders. As we know, Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the best teams of IPL. It is true that I’m a great great fan of Kolkata Knight Riders. Now I’m moving forward to (sic) the top tonight. And lastly, (I) want to say wishes and good luck to my favourite team Kolkata Knight Riders.”
The video was tweeted by Star Sports, the official broadcast partner of the Indian Premier League. With the tournament coming to the business end, such incidents simply go on to prove the fanaticism that fans in this part of the world has and how the sport touches a chord in parts where hardly any cricketing activity is witnessed.
