This Sri Lankan Fans has a Special Place in Indian Cricketers' Heart

Mohamed Nilam has been a familiar face for Team India as he was spotted behind the grills keeping a firm eye on the Indian nets at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. He was often seen with the Indian Team during their tours of Sri Lanka, click pictures with the cricketers and erupts with joy when players decide to give him a gift hampers.

He was heard shouting different names every time an Indian cricketer left the training premises yesterday. “Hey, Chinaman” was reserved for Kuldeep Yadav while “Hi Sri” for fielding coach R Sridhar and “jinx” for the Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane. All the cricketers including captain Virat Kohli were seen greeting Nilam and Gayan Senanayaka, two ardent cricket supporters who have come all the way from Sri Lanka and have high regards for the Indian cricketers.

“We cheer for Sri Lanka but after Sri Lanka, it has been India, will always be India. I have a good relationship with most Indian cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli since their younger days, I love them a lot,” Nilam was heard saying to indianexpress.

Nilam’s social media accounts are flooded with pictures of Indian cricketers and his ease with the players is essentially because of him following them closely when the men in blues visit the island. Even at neutral competitions, like Champions Trophy and Asia Cup, they would exchange greetings with cricketers who are generally at some distance from the fans.
They also shared a good bond with the renowned fan of Sachin Tendulkar, Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary. The duos staying arrangements are taken care by Sudhir, who believes it’s his responsibility to do this. Whenever Sudhir visits Sri Lanka, Nilam and Senanayaka ensure that everything is in order, right from his stay to travel. Together, as informed by Sudhir, they have watched plenty of India-Sri Lanka contests including the iconic 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

“Yes, we were together at Wankhede. The only difference was that because of Sachin (Tendulkar) Sir, I managed to get inside the Indian dressing room while my friends were in the stands. When we go to Sri Lanka, they take care of us so it’s my duty to do the same when they are in India. We are staying very far away from the stadium at the moment but are planning to take a hotel nearby when the match begins on Saturday,” Sudhir stated.

They signed off engaging in friendly banter as Sudhir’s replied:

“India Ek Baar batting karke vishal score khada kare, aur match jeet jaaye,” following Nilam said, “I think tomorrow if Sri Lanka plays good cricket, they will win.” Sudhir was not willing to believe it as he aggressively waved the Tricolour, chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jai”