Fans set to use technology to back RCB

They are yet to lay their hands on the coveted trophy but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) enjoy an enviable fan following in the Indian Premier League. It doesn’t matter to the fans if the team is tottering at the bottom of the table. At any stage of a season, they fill the Chinnaswamy to the brim to support the Challengers with huge banners and loud chants of ‘RCB’, RCB’.

The BCCI, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, was forced to move the 13th edition of the league out of India. “We can’t do anything outside of our homes,” says a disappointed Saikrishna, a member of Namma Team RCB, a fan group established in 2010.

Last season, the group began their support with a 900 square feet banner that said ‘We Are Together’. After Virat Kohli’s men produced a lacklustre run, they stood firm in their fandom and made another gargantuan banner that read ‘We Believe In You’.

With the league shifted to UAE and likely to be held without fans, such passionate expression of love towards their favourite team is impossible for RCB loyalists. However, desperate time calls for desperate measures. Fans have chosen technology as a medium to back their team.

“Everything is digital now,” says Saikrishna, a commerce student. “We at Namma Team RCB are planning to come together on Google Meet or Zoom and watch all the RCB games. Whatever happens, our love for RCB will never die,” he adds.

Cricketers, who will miss the electric atmosphere at the stadium, will take to social media to connect with their fans. Namma Team RCB is planning to request IPL broadcasters to invite the group to the pre-match shows. As the season nears, the group is in touch with Kannadigas in Dubai, discussing creative ways to celebrate RCB’s performances.

Dileep Kalathil from Palakkad, founder of Virat Gang in 2012, is relieved that he can see RCB in action. “When the first schedule was announced, I had made my itinerary ready and was about to book tickets for the games. To think of what happened after that and finally to see the league not getting cancelled, I am just glad the sport is back,” he says.

An ardent fan of Kohli since the gifted batsman’s U-19 days, Dileep and members of Virat Gang were set to launch a comic book capturing the skipper’s journey but Covid-19 proved to be a barrier to their idea. “Till the season is over, we will run contests on our social media pages. Now we have planned a contest to give away RCB masks. We want to bring all RCB lovers together,” he says.