Royal Challengers Bengaluru is facing backlash from fans after the team's X account posted a photo announcing the 2025 team in Hindi. In a separate post, the X handle, Royal Challengers Bengaluru Hindi, shared writings in Hindi and another post, Virat Kohli addressed his fans in Hindi.
Fans have objected to the move -- the launch of the new Hindi account that has over 2,500 followers. They allege that Hindi does not represent the linguistic diversity of India, emphasising that there was no need for the page and the management should reconsider its decision.
The new Hindi 'X' account was launched soon after the IPL Mega Auctions ended on Monday. The team has its official X handle in English which has over 7.3 million followers. The team also has another account in Kannada called the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Kannada, which has close to 10,000 followers.
"It's a war against Kannadigas by RCB Management to forcefully impose Hindi. We should strongly oppose this and make sure this account is deleted asap. If they still want it then they should remove Bengaluru from the franchise name," posted a user.
"As a proud Kannadiga and Bengaluru-based RCB fan, it’s disheartening to see our franchise using Hindi in their social media posts. Bengaluru represents Kannada culture and language, and RCB should respect this by prioritizing Kan-Eng in their communication," wrote another user tagging Virat Kohli's video.
"If this continues, Kannadigas will deliver bad time for RCB soon," wrote another fan.
However, fans were also in the opinion that a Hindi page is needed for the Hindi-speaking population.
"Hindi page for RCB team is much needed to reach north Indian RCB supporters. Some think that this is a Hindi imposition on them, but the fact is RCB is celebrated across India, not only in Karnataka," pointed out a user.
Fans have also lauded the move and said that there was no reason for it to be seen as a divide.
RCB's squad for IPL 2025 include Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.