Parvinder Awana attacked by goons in Greater Noida

What’s the story?

In a shocking turn of events, Delhi pacer Parvinder Awana was attacked by a set of goons in Greater Noida’s Site-4 area on Friday night.

Speaking to The Times of India, Awana said: "I saw some criminals fighting among themselves at a welding shop". The bowler asked them to make peace, then bought some ice and left for home. But the gang of goons chased Awana and forced him to stop his car. "They thrashed me and fled from the spot," he revealed.

The cricketer had earlier reported the incident on a WhatsApp group called TenNewsNoida, where he wrote, "Mera par hmla hua, Abhi side 4 par, Kise par police ka no h, G noida plz help. (I have been beaten up by goons. Please provide me with the contact number of the police in Noida).

In case you didn’t know

The 31-year-old made his T20I debut against England in Pune five years ago. However, he failed to prove his mettle, leaving his international stint restricted to just two games. In the domestic circuit, the right-arm medium pacer plies his trade for Delhi. He has also represented the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

The heart of the matter

The pacer revealed that he had returned from Haridwar on Friday morning and was resting for a few hours, following which he left for the market located in Site-4 in his SUV to buy some ice in the evening, to help relieve pain from his aching muscles.

After roughing up Awana, the goons ran away to Dankaur village.

This is not a first of its kind incident involving Awana. Three years ago, he was beaten up by Noida policemen over an argument involving car parking. A head constable allegedly used his hands on Awana after the cricketer had parked his car on the other side of the road. The constable was later suspended.

Parallels from the past

Only a few days ago, Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was involved in a scuffle outside his house in Kolkata involving a car parking issue. Recently, news of a co-passenger having misbehaved with Sourav Ganguly on the train had also emerged. Umesh Yadav was also a victim of vandalism just recently, when he was robbed of cash and mobile phones after burglars broke into his house.

Author’s take

Disturbing incidents such as these only show that not everyone considers putting cricketers on a high pedestal. While the players' career brings them stardom, their life away from the 22-yards might not always be hunky dory. A physical assault on a sportsperson can have grievous repercussions, and is a matter that should compel them to have stricter security around them.