BENGALURU: In Bengaluru, the change in seasons is unmistakable. The city often tends to announce it with a colourful makeover. Since January, the garden city has been sporting pink with its iconic cherry blossoms — not the same trees as Japan but just as spellbinding — in full bloom. But on Sunday, it signalled that another season had dawned by trading in the pink for a dark shade of red.
For the uninitiated, there were other signs. Traffic often froze in the road that separated the M Chinnaswamy Stadium from the nearby Cubbon Park, as vehicles patiently waited for droves of fans to finish crossing the road. Long queues of red snaked to the various gates of the stadium, flanked by hawkers selling replica jerseys and amateur artists offering a couple of lines of red paint across the face. All this could only mean one thing. The IPL season was here.
For three years, this particular season had skipped the calendar in Bengaluru. As the IPL contained itself within bio-bubbles, due to the coronavirus pandemic, most RCB fans were forced to be content with following their team on their TVs and mobiles. So starved had they been of their usual fix that almost 40,000 RCB fans turned up to watch their heroes hit a few balls around
And, inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, as the Royal Challengers Bangalore kicked off their season with a number of events, all emphasis was on the fans. The team’s first practice session was roared on by a stadium three quarters full. The remaining quarter was left unfilled not due to lack of demand, but thanks to a concert that featured the likes of Sonu Nigam and Jason Derulo.
On the green, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell occupied the two makeshift nets that had been prepared for the event. It was less of a practice session, more of a six-hitting contest. The two maestros played to their audience by trying to hit virtually every ball into the stands. A roar echoed through the stadium each time the ball rose into the air.
Elsewhere, a group of RCB officials briefed assembled journalists over their non-cricketing plans for the season, ‘merging sports and lifestyle’ as they put it. Among the initiatives announced was the ‘RCB Innovation Lab’, a venture that aimed to encompass everything from education to green initiatives to artificial intelligence. Even here, the emphasis was on the brand’s fervent fanbase. “RCB has this highly-engaging fan base across the globe and it has been numbered at around 30 million,” said Rajesh Menon, RCB Head and Vice President. “In 2022, we touched a TV reach of 262.6 million.”
Later in the evening, they were again given the pride of place as the franchise inducted AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle into their hall of fame. “I have so many fun memories of playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for RCB. The ‘RCB, RCB’ chants will always stay with me,” Gayle, whose exploits at the stadium include an astonishing 175 not out in 2013, which still remains the highest individual score in the IPL, said.
RCB’s fans have yet to taste an IPL triumph — they’re probably the biggest club in terms of fan base to not have a title to their name. They are also the team to have come closest without winning it. Three final appearances all resulted in losses. Yet, the fans still believe with each season heralded by chants of ‘ee sala Cup namde (This season, the Cup is ours)’. Every player out on the pitch on Sunday — Kohli more than anyone — will know that beneath their jubilant roars lies hope. On April 2, as RCB takes on Mumbai Indians, yet another attempt to live up to that hope will begin.