Bengaluru: Despite a turbulent last 10 months, during which Royal Challengers Bengaluru came under heavy criticism for their handling of the trophy celebrations that claimed the lives of 11 fans, the franchise's following among its faithful has taken little hit.
After much delay, the tickets for RCB's opening game on Saturday against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium went on sale on Tuesday evening at 4.00 pm, and it got sold out within four minutes! While it reiterated the enduring love between RCB and its faithful, it also showed how much fans in Bengaluru were craving to watch a top-flight cricket at Chinnaswamy that was banned from hosting high-profile games following the stampede.
Preetham Karigar, who heads the hugely popular Namma Team RCB fan group that has 111k followers on Instagram, said most of them were waiting for this moment after months of uncertainty where it looked like RCB may be forced to play their home matches elsewhere as the State Government failed to give the Karnataka State Cricket Association the green signal.
"That period where news kept coming that RCB may play their matches in Pune or Raipur really hurt us. After 17 years, RCB finally won a trophy and they won't be playing their matches in front of their ardent fans at Chinnaswamy. Every time there was an inspection at Chinnaswamy, we were keeping a close track," said Preetham, who managed to bag tickets for the opener.
"And when it was confirmed that Chinnaswamy would be hosting RCB, it was an emotional moment for us. We felt the same joy when RCB won the trophy last year. Yes, whatever has happened is highly regrettable. And kudos to KSCA for implementing all the measures in such a short time. Can't wait to see RCB step out on Saturday with a star on their jerseys."
Aditya Bardwaj, an employee with a private firm and a member of the RCB Fan Army, too expressed delight at the franchise deciding to play their home games here but rued the fact that he couldn't buy the tickets.
"Within no time the tickets were sold out. I was really looking forward to the opening ceremony and watching RCB enter the field as champions. But I couldn't get a hold of the tickets. Normally, RCB allocates a portion of tickets to the various fan groups. This time we didn't get any. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get a ticket. Hoping and praying I get one!"