A pitch invader rushed onto the field of play on day two of the ongoing boxing day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and disrupted the rhythm of the game. The pitch invader rushed to India's slip cordon after the third delivery of the 97th over and put an arm around Virat Kohli's shoulders.
He also showcased his dance moves before the security officials rushed and grabbed him. He was then escorted off the field and play resumed with Jasprit Bumrah sprinting into Steve Smith.
Pitch invader with Virat Kohli:
It may sound like an uncanny coincidence, but the pitch invader appears to be the same individual (Wen Johnson) who had invaded the pitch while Virat was batting alongside KL Rahul during the ODI World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad between India and Australia.
Robert Cianflone, a professional photographer with Getty Images, posted the images of both incidents and suggested that it may be the same person. Notably, Johnson was remanded in one-day police custody by the Gandhinagar court for the incident at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
"Looks like the same pitch invader today at the MCG and Narendra Modi Stadium in 2023 at the World Cup Final," Robert posted on X.
Australia Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
Bench: Beau Webster, Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Jhye Richardson
Support Staff: Andrew McDonald, Andre Borovec, Daniel Vettori, Michael Di Venuto, Clint McKay
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Bench: Shubman Gill, Tanush Kotian, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
Support Staff: Gautam Gambhir, Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate, T Dilip, Morne Morkel
