IPL 2018: Royal Challengers Bangalore pay special tribute to fans

In the 10-year history of the Indian Premier League, the Royal Challengers Bangalore rank among the teams with the largest fan base, despite not winning a single title so far. Year after year, fans throng the Chinnaswamy Stadium in support of Virat Kohli and company, who are said to be jinxed in the tournament. The team has often had to bear the brunt of an uneven squad selection, sometimes the bowlers are plenty, and sometimes the batsmen.

This year, however, RCB have a very strong and balanced team with almost all their departments sorted, and can thus aim at their maiden IPL silverware. RCB’s Facebook page shared a video of their captain Virat Kohli, who is seen thanking fans for their support all these years, and also paying a tribute to them for the same.

A special jersey for the fans 

Kohli unveiled a jersey, the no. of which was 12 – signifying the 12th man of the team. Kohli tells in the video that all the fans qualify as the team’s 12th man, and thanks them for their undue support. Kohli also told that the RCB is retiring the jersey No. 12 for their fans.

Strong team balance for 2018

This year, RCB has a much stronger team. They have plenty of all-rounders in Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Corey Anderson. Their pace battery appears attractive with names like Mohammed Siraj and Aniket Choudhary. Not to forget, they also have spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar as big weapons. And of course, the names of Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers remain indispensable to the team.

RCB will play their first game of the season against the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 8 at the latter’s home ground, the Eden Gardens. The last time KKR and RCB met at the iconic venue, the Kohli-led side registered the lowest total in IPL history – that of 49 runs. This time around, RCB will look to erase the humiliation of the past by performing better.

Watch the video here