The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru turned into a sea of white as fans paid homage to one of the most prominent figures in Indian cricket. Virat Kohli, who recently announced his retirement from Test cricket, did not receive a formal farewell, which did not sit well with Indian fans and prompted them to take matters into their own hands.
A fan campaign soon emerged online with RCB fans urged to wear the traditional whites of Indian team with the number 18 printed over it to show respect for the Indian legend. Fans started gathering at Chinnaswamy wearing the traditional whites while the nearby vendors also started selling these t-shirts seeing the momentum.
In a video posted by broadcaster Star Sports, one fan says, “It’s our tribute to the great man. No. 269 has officially retired, so we have decided to pay a tribute to him. If I had a chance to meet him, I would ask him to take the Test retirement back,” a fan said.
While RCB or the IPL did not officially endorse the movement, the franchise’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, did address the matter in a pre-match briefing, saying, “It’s not something we’ve talked about in the dressing room,” he said, “but I’ve certainly noticed the fans talking about it. I don’t think it’ll impact the players much, but it’s a nice touch.”
RCB vs KKR match washed out due to rain:
Meanwhile, the wait for fans to see Virat Kohli play for the first time since his retirement got longer as the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday was washed out due to rain. RCB did, however, move to the 1st position in the IPL Points Table after the match and are very close to officially securing a play-off berth.
The key worry for the Rajat Paidar led francise will be the availability of their foreign players going into the top four stages.
