Tamilians and Keralites believe he is one of them, and people from Karnataka also consider him their hero.
Varun Chakravarthy has a huge fan following in the UAE. The reason? He is a complete South Indian.
Tamilians and Keralites believe he is one of them, and people from Karnataka also consider him their hero.
He was born in Bidar, Karnataka, to a Kannadiga mother while his father is half Tamilian and half Malayali. He grew up in Adyar, Chennai.
This is why Chakravarthy is a huge fan of South Indian movies. He has even acted in the Tamil film Jeeva.
Though he studied architecture, his passion lies in films, and he enjoys writing scripts.
His dream is to direct a movie starring Tamil superstar Vijay. Right now, however, he is the hero of many cricket fans in Dubai.
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It was hilarious to hear some Indian fans shout, "New Zealand, come back soon!" after India beat them on Sunday.
These fans are confident that India will beat Australia in the semifinal and advance to the final.
"It's better to play against a known devil than an unknown one," one fan remarked.
Another reason is that New Zealand has clearly struggled against Indian spinners.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, New Zealand's Matt Henry said: "Varun Chakravarthy bowled beautifully. He extracted turn and pace."
On hearing this, a journalist quipped, "How can he say that when he lasted just four balls before falling to Varun? Some of them had no clue how to play him."
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Hardik Pandya is a cheerful personality off the field. Every time he comes out after training, he makes sure to share a laugh with journalists.
He is always happy to oblige fans with his autograph or a selfie. On certain days, he wears a sleeveless T-shirt, showing off the tattoos covering his arms.
Among them are a tiger and a lion. He says the tiger tattoo symbolises courage, while the lion represents strength and guardianship.
Right below his ear is a peace tattoo to remind him to stay at peace with life.
However, when it comes to batting, he is one of the most aggressive hitters in the team. One of his sixes landed on the few empty seats in the stadium!
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Giving gifts is a tradition during the holy month of Ramadan. Many expatriates receive presents from their Arab employers during this time.
At the ground, the talk of the day was Shreyas Iyer gifting his Nike batting shoes to net bowler Jaskiran Singh.
During the ILT20 and T10 leagues, many UAE cricketers play alongside international stars, and some have received gifts from them.
For young fans in Dubai the greatest gift is when a superstar agrees for a selfie.
Rohit Sharma delighted a youngster after training at the ICC Academy by posing for a selfie with him.
What excited the boy the most was Sharma putting an arm around him for the picture.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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