WC 2015: Sachin Tendulkar’s letter saves Indian fan Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary from the law

Hamilton: He was the master on the cricket pitch and after closing down the curtains on an illustrious career, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is doing wonders with his pen. No, he’s not donning the author’s hat again. Ask India’s most well-known fan Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, whose body painted in the tri colour and whose hair-cut is much like the map of India.

Sudhir found himself to be in trouble in Auckland on Sunday with the New Zealand Customs officials, after a letter from the ‘Little Master’ saved him.

All those coming to New Zealand for the first time are warned sufficiently about the strict immigration rules that are in place for tourists from all over the world. The country has very rigid rules and even veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh will vouch for it. Bhaji was once fined NZ$500 because his white cricket shoes had a thick layer of mud stuck to it.

Sudhir landed at the Auckland International Airport and found his body paint bottles of orange, white and green confiscated by the custom officials. The story didn’t end there. The WACA authorities were not too happy about the length of the flagpole that the Bihar-born was carrying. He even had an extension that would fit into the two-metre pole to make it longer.

Not just that, he was also told that he would have to pay a fine of NZ$1,400 (approx 65,000 rupees), for violating the law. Sudhir was stunned and didn’t have that much money. Only when he showed the officials a letter of Sachin Tendulkar, it worked like magic and a relieved Sudhir was let free. The same letter Sudhir showed at the embassy while applying for a visa.