Any celebrity is made up of two things – their achievements and the adulation they garner amongst the people. An example of the latter is 31-year-old Pintu Behara from a village in Ganjam District of Odisha. He is an ardent fan of Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian cricket team. The proof of the pudding being the 15 tattoos on Pintu’s body and the fact that he has attended 30 matches where Virat Kohli was playing. On Tuesday, Pintu’s long-awaited dream came true when he met the skipper in Vizag.
Virat Kohli had just finished a pre-match press conference prior to India’s ongoing Test match against South Africa. A shirtless Pintu managed to get his attention as he was leaving the press conference venue. The captain was certainly overwhelmed to see Pintu’s visible show of admiration and showed this by giving him a warm hug.
Pintu Behara, who turned up in Vizag to witness his hero in action, sports a tattoo of Virat Kohli’s face on his chest. He also has a tattoo of Virat Kohli with a bowed head paying respect to Sachin Tendulkar. On his back, the ardent fan has the captain’s jersey number; 18. Along with this, one can also see tattoos depicting his idol’s three main achievements – the 2008 Under-19 World Cup triumph, the 2013 Arjuna award, and the 2017 Padma Shri.
The other achievement is that Pintu Behara has not allowed his idol obsession to affect his personal life. His responsibilities as a husband, father, and contractor have not been forgotten over the years. All in all, it was definitely a “fan moment” which Virat Kohli would probably never forget.
