In a surprise turn of events on afternoon of Sunday, November 19, a young man wearing a T-shirt with the messages ‘free Palestine’ and ‘Stop bombing Palestine' and holding an LGBTQIA+ Pride flag, barged into the Narendra Modi Stadium pitch in Ahmedabad where the final cricket World Cup match between India and Australia was taking place. He was later identified as Johnson Wen, a TikTok prankster from Brisbane, Australia, with a penchant for pyjamas. He has been in trouble before for his 'floss' dance moves in busy city roads of Brisbane which landed him in court.
In the Ahmedabad stadium on Sunday, he forced his way into the pitch after the 13th over in the first innings when India was batting. In images that surfaced of the incident, the protester was seen approaching Virat Kohli. In a short video recorded after he was taken away by the security personnel, he says that his name is Johnson, and he entered the field to meet Virat Kohli. To a question about his pro-Palestine T-shirt he said that he supported Palestine.
Johnson's face was partially covered in a mask bearing the red, black, white and green of the Palestinian flag. He was seen placing his hands on Kohli’s shoulders, who pushed them away gently, immediately after which he was escorted away by security personnel.
On Sunday, Australia won the toss and elected to field. India saw three early fall of wickets with Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer retiring by eleven overs. Virat Kohli also departed the field in the 28th over. Two hours after the match commenced, India put up 150 runs on the scoreboard.
The Indian cricket team had defeated New Zealand in the semifinals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15 and qualified for the finals. India remained at the top of the points table by winning all the matches and had a winning streak in this tournament. Australia reached the finals after beating South Africa in the semifinals by three wickets on November 16. The five-time world cup champions had qualified for the semifinals after winning seven of the nine matches in this tournament.
In the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, the death toll of civilians has crossed over 11,000 with a majority of the victims being women and children. Israel has also been condemned by many for its airstrikes on hospitals in its search for Hammas, the military group ruling the Gaza strip. Earlier this week, India voted in favour of a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine. The resolution, which disapproved settlement activities in ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan’. The United States and Canada were among the seven countries that opposed the resolution, while 18 countries chose to abstain from the vote.