Ahmedabad: From Paldi to Old High Court to Motera, Ahmedabad was soaked in Virat Kohli fever. Several hours before the start of the game, all roads led to the Narendra Modi stadium in anticipation of Kohli’s long-cherished dream to be an IPL winner. The only one-club player, still in action in the Indian Premier League; the once brash West Delhi kid turned heartbeat of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was the cynosure of all eyes on Tuesday.
If there’s one man you could bank on to fill the biggest stadium in cricket, it had to be Kohli. Home team Gujarat Titans haven’t managed it during the season. No wonder, the broadcasters, the sponsors; those pumping in money to make IPL the extravaganza it is and seeking a bang for their buck, were thrilled to bits when RCB pushed Punjab Kings over in Qualifier 1.
While singer Shankar Mahadevan filled the stands with patriotic fervour, you could see Kohli immersed in shadow practice on the sidelines, preparing for his 267th IPL outing.
Think of Kohli as the fan magnate whose perennial wait for an IPL title was finally going to end. Or so the thousands assembled at the stadium seemed to think. The force and flow of the average RCB fan was so strong that even Sugumar, the maverick superfan of the franchise who paints his body in red and a warrior mask – he’s even on the RCB team bus, this year – would be lost in the numbers.
“I have come from Shivamogga,” said Shalini, 21, an engineering student and one of the many to have travelled from Karnataka to Ahmedabad. “Ee Sala Cup Namade”
That’s the popular chant among RCB fans in Kannada which translates to “This year the Cup will be ours.” RCB players, officials, even past players are prohibited from using the Kannada expression. “Virat has asked me not to use it,” said AB Devilliers, arguably RCB’s second most influential player after jersey No 18. Devilliers had flown in as broadcaster and RCB Hall of Famer. So had Chris Gayle, the other RCB giant who would pump sixes at will in his prime.
RCB came close to winning a title in IPL’s early years. Their earliest final finish was in the South Africa IPL of 2009. Two years later, again in 2011. That’s when Kohli was more, the next big thing. By the time they made it to the final again in 2016, he would hold the stage with the most prolific season a batter has ever registered with 973 runs. Kohli’s fandom had grown multifold by then, and he was Bengaluru’s adopted son.
No wonder cafes and theaters in Bengaluru were glued to their mega screens when Kohli walked out to bat in Ahmedabad after Shreyas Iyer put RCB in. There was even a car full of nimbu-mirchi, the traditional ritual considered to get rid of the evil eye on Bengaluru streets.
Former UK Prime Minister, an avid cricket fan was in the stadium to support RCB because of his wife’s Bengaluru connection. TV news played out pictures of ‘havans’ in support of RCB. There was even milk poured over Kohli posters, a ritual as offering for Gods. Some of these may be attention grabbing gimmicks in the social media age. But rarely is such fervour seen before an IPL final. That is still the preserve of India’s men in blue.
On Tuesday, IPL’s most passionate fan base had assembled from around the country and beyond wearing No 18. You could comfortably estimate Punjab Kings orange was heavily outnumbered by RCB’s red.
The only other franchise to enjoy such ardent support is CSK. And the fans in yellow have had the pleasure of watching their team win more than lose. For the RCB fans, their yearning desire to end their wait to see their team win for the first time in eighteen attempts, made those assembled in the one lakh plus seater stadium on the banks of Sabarmati a conveyor belt of emotion.
