T20 World Cup: Meet Bhavishan Rai, die-hard India fan about to watch 635th match from the stands

IT’S HARD to understand die-hard fans and what drives them to travel around the world to support their favourite team. One of them to have made the trip Down Under is 57-year-old Bhavishan Rai, known as Babs, from Bedford, on the outskirts of London.
As India prepares to face England in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide, Rai will watch with fingers crossed. But he has enough experience cheering for the Men in Blue. After all, it will be his 635th game watching from the stands.
Rai’s grandfather moved from Jalandhar to England in the 1960s and he has lived his life there. The Indian diaspora in Britain is known for its almost-fanatical support for the team, but Rai has a special dinction among them. He has seen India win the 1983 World Cup in England, the 2007 ICC World T20 in South Africa, and the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent. He also witnessed India’s early exit from the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Rai fell in love with the game at the age of 17 when he watched Kapil Dev’s iconic 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, after India had been reduced to 17/5. But he considers India’s Test series victory in England in 1986 as his proudest moment as a fan.
“I was among the thousands of fans who ran at Lord’s when India defeated West Indies to clinch their maiden World Cup. I saw Kapil’s 175 at a deserted ground with only a few fans. However, for Indians living in England, the proudest moment came when India defeated England in 1986. It was more than winning the World Cup for them, especially since a lot of them had gone through many personal attacks,” he said.
Rai is an IT professional, who says he has made enough to enjoy the rest of his life. He is passionate about the game, and not the cricketers. He doesn’t take selfies, the only time he took an autograph was of Maninder Singh, who wrote in capital letters. He only travels to watch India games and part of his earnings is kept aside for this purpose. The only memento he carries with him is a cap given to him Sachin Tendulkar after India lost to Australia in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg.
“Sachin was upset and was walking back after the presentation ceremony. I told him ‘Hard Luck Sachin, you tried your best’. After a while, he came back and gave his cap to me which I have worn till date. I think he knows me now,” Rai recalled.
Times have changed
There was a time when cricketers used to join fans for drinks or food after a game. Rai says he helped a 19-year-old Harbhajan Singh find Indian food. At the 2007 ICC World T20, he dined with Virender Sehwag on eve of the final against Pakan as he was injured and not playing the game. In 2009, he guided VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar to a nice restaurant in Napier, New Zealand.
“I remember the three of us sat and watched the Singapore Grand Prix. In 1998, in Hamilton, a match was called off due to rain. I was the only Indian in the stadium and had a box seat. I had the opportunity of dining with the Indian team which can’t happen now.”
Rai can go to any extent to feed his fashion. Once he wasn’t getting a room for an India-Australia game in Mohali in 2008. Tendulkar was on the verge of surpassing Brian Lara’s tally of most Test runs. He wrote an email to the hotel staff to book a room pretending to be an important cricket official whose identity couldn’t be disclosed.
“I requested them for a room. They said the hotel was full but I then pretended to be one of the key officials, who was on a very important task for this game. Next mail, I got my booking confirmed,” he quipped.
On one of his tours to India 14 years ago, Rai wore Tricolour trousers and was heckled on the streets of Mumbai. He has followed the game from close quarters for decades – from Indian players looking for Indian families in England who can provide Indian food to seeing them in five-star accommodation. The other day, he met Mohinder Amarnath walking near Lord’s.
“I recognised him. His wife suddenly started clapping because she felt no one knew her husband anymore,” he laughed.