‘Crying kid’ Arjan wins hearts at #AsiaCup
7-year-old garners attention from Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and other celebrities
Reader Interactivity Journalist
The 2018 #AsiaCup was a memorable tournament and ended with team India taking home the cup. While Indian tweeps took to social media to praise the players for their effort, no one was happier than 7-year-old Arjan Singh aka the internet’s “crying kid”. He became an overnight sensation after he was seen howling in the stands, after India drew their match with Afghanistan on September 25.
In a video that surfaced online, Singh was seen inconsolable after the result of the match. Wearing the Indian team’s jersey and a turban in the shades of the tricolour, online users found the little fan “so cute”.
The video was posted by Twitter user @KabaliOf and received 15,200 views.
In an interview with Gulf News, Arjan said: “I cried because I did not want Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lose the match that he was the captain for. During the last ball, I thought Ravindra Jadeja was going to hit a six, but I was so sad when the ball was caught by an Afghanistan player. That’s why I cried. Everyone told me we didn’t ‘lose’ and the match had tied, but it wasn’t a tie for me.”
According to his father, Amarpreet Singh, Arjan has always been passionate about cricket and does get emotional when India loses a match. He said: “During the last ball, I was equally engrossed in the game. I forgot Arjan was next to me. When I looked over, he was crying. I ■ tried my best to console him at that moment.” He managed to meet a few Indian cricket team players and even spoke to cricketer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the phone, who promised the little fan that he would help India win the cup.
As luck would have it, Arjan even met players Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shahzad from the Afghanistan team, who signed his jersey and took pictures with him. Online users commended the players for their sportsman spirit and discussed how sports went beyond just winning. Blogger @AmitHPanchal said: “This cute Sikh kid was crying when the match tied. #INDvAFG.”
Many people called it the “cutest moment” of the match. Arjan Singh even caught the attention of Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh) who took to Twitter and said: “Koi na putt Rona Nahi hai final aapa jittange (Don’t worry son, don’t cry. We will win the final).”
Bollywood celebrities like Koena Mitra, Raveena Tandon and Anupam Kher also shared pictures of Arjan and his little sister, before the Asia Cup final, while wishing team India for their match.
Remembering the last few overs, Amarpreet Singh added: “The last 60 odd runs were tense. We were all consoling each other. Arjan relished the moment when India won. It was really great to be at the ground.”