Pakistani cricket fan holding Palestinian flag beaten up by guards in second T20

A cricket fan who invaded the pitch during Pakistan’s second T20 against England at Headingley has complained he was beaten very badly by the security guards.

Speaking to Geo News from the accident and emergency unit of the Oldham Hospital, Muhammad Ayshaam, 25, said he wanted to have fun and get a selfie with the closest player Adil Rashid when storming the pitch towards the end of the match.

Live scenes showed Ayshaam storming the pitch by dodging at least five security guards on his way, making it straight to Rashid, pausing there for three seconds to attempt a selfie and then running back to the stands, successfully dodging the security men chasing to get hold of him.

Muhammad Ayshaam says he wanted a selfie with the English team #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/2vHKJuijHp

— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) July 19, 2021

Thousands of cricket fans cheered and clapped as Ayshaam flipped his way back to the crowd and ran up the stands to melt into the crowd, while the security men continued their chase.

But Ayshaam, who works in a warehouse and was carrying a “free Palestine” flag with him when invading the pitch, says he was beaten “very badly” by the security guards. As he was running out, an English fan stuck his leg out to drop him and then two Pakistani security guards tried to grab him and Ayshaam dodged them too.
Then four to five security guards chased him and one of them tackled Ayshaam on the ground.

Muhammad Ayshaam successfully dodged the ground security pic.twitter.com/PR9jSOlUNY

— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) July 19, 2021

“I fell on the concrete with full force. I have deep cuts on [my] left elbow and on both hands. I couldn’t stand when they tripped and pushed me. They also dragged me even when I requested to sit down on [the] floor. My left foot was in so much pain. I couldn’t stand and they carried on dragging and pushing me,” he said while talking to Geo News.

The English Cricket Board (ECB) and other sporting managements have declared that invading pitches by fans is unacceptable and those involved in anti-social behaviour will be dealt with the full force of regulations and laws.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will face England today (Tuesday) in the final T20 of the three-match series.