We all remember Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) taking the streets after Smriti Mandhana and Co. brought the franchise glory. Despite the failure of the men’s team to lift a title, their fans never lost hope and continued to back their side. The die-hard fans have invaded the pitch to grab a glimpse of Virat Kohli, and some have even tattooed the names of every member of the team.
Dinesh Karthik on the good side of the RCB fandom
Talking with Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, Karthik called RCB fans ‘family’ and claimed that they’ll fight anyone who badmouths the players or the franchise online.
“RCB fans are loyalists. They are actually family, and I say that in good and bad ways. The good way is that when you go, no matter what happens, if I walk in, they will cheer my name and make me feel like I’m the greatest player on Earth. What I mean by that is that to the outside world, they will never give up on you. If there is a fight between say you know some team and they say, “Oh, X is not a good player,” they will pounce on that person.”
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The bad side: smash me & my family online
Dinesh Karthik also opened up about the private ‘hate’ he receives from the same fans who defend him and the franchise online. He said:
“On a personal level, that same fan will abuse me silently in DMs every day, rather than on a one-on-one note. He will go hard at me if I don’t do well for RCB; he will smash me, not just me, my family, and whoever is possible in my life. But to the outside world, they will not give up an RCB player. For them, it is very special, and what a fan base they have for a team that has been competing for 16 years! Unreal fan base that they have, as I said. I’ve been part of many teams. You know all of them have fans, but RCB is incredible.”
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