BENGALURU: Did you know that Yuzvendra Chahal used to practise chess for 15 hours a day and sleep for just four-five hours in a day? Or do you know why Virat Kohli believes his wife Anushka Sharma has a stronger association with Bengaluru than him? An upcoming podcast on cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is a tell-all show that delves into the lesser-known sides of prominent cricketers.
Hosted by actor Danish Sait, The RCB Podcast: How IPL Changed My Life will feature players and the officials from the RCB camp who open up about their IPL journey and some untold stories from the dressing room. An overnight conversation after the second wave of Covid-19, or in other words after the India’s schedule of IPL 2021 concluded, RCB along with All Things Small (ATS) a podcast company, collaborated to produce content that would share inspiring and intriguing stories about the RCB stars and their iconic cricketing moments.
Sait, who will be hosting the 10-episode series, says, “When I heard what ATS did with Harsha sir (Harsha Bhogle) on Mission ISRO, I was really excited to work with them. Sometimes you have to charter your own course and I am glad that team saw value in ATS. The RCB players were really honest and candid while recording the podcast and the fact that there was a good interpersonal relationship among the team, makes this product more deserving to the fans. Also, you got to appreciate someone like Virat opening about his mental health and being forthright about it.”
The podcast is generally based on ‘How IPL Changed Your Life’, but the conversations also extends beyond the cricket field, where Mohammad Siraj talks about his relationship with his father and how his lifestyle changes after IPL; AB de Villiers talks about the housing offers he received from Bengaluru ; how the Delhi franchise were behind Virat Kohli during the early auction days; and also some references to the Universe Boss Chris Gayle. “We have dug deeper into conversations that are part of popular culture. Despite knowing the players, a lot of research went into extracting some great stories. All interviews were great, but the one with Siraj was quite emotional because he took us through his past which brought in great energy during the shoot,” says Sait.
Ajith Ramamurthy, head- content and digital for RCB, says, “You can expect some really hard-hitting stories in this podcast. We wanted to make off-season content and this is the first season in that direction.” The podcast, which will stream on Spotify and other platforms this weekend, will also feature players like, Devdutt Padikal, Glenn Maxwell and Mike Hesson, director of cricket operations for RCB. Related story on Page 4