Indian cricket witnessed an unsavoury incident during the third and final Twenty20 International match against South Africa on Sunday with fans in Bengaluru shouting 'RCB, RCB', and drowning out those who were rooting for the national team.
(3rd T20 Report | 3rd T20 Highlights | Scorecard | Cricket News)
India suffered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat to allow the Proteas to share the honours 1-1 in the three-match series. After strangely opting to bat first on a batting-friendly Chinnaswamy Stadium top, India could manage only 134 runs, then failed to pose a fight, losing the encounter with more than three overs to spare.
For the fans, it all started just like any other match -- bringing nationalistic fervour, wearing their patriotism prominently, chanting 'India, India'. But as the match wore on and India's defeat looked imminent, the fixture turned 'Royal Challengers Bangalore vs South Africa'.
To the dismay of Team India and those who were rooting for the Virat Kohli & Co., majority of the fans were caught shouting 'RCB, RCB'.
Watch it here:
Crowd Chanting RCBðÂÂ¥ RCBðÂÂ¥
— Troll Who Trolls Virat (@TWTVOfficial_) September 22, 2019
Chinnaswamy StadiumðÂÂ¥ð§¡#INDvSA pic.twitter.com/N1tdwvOOTx
On the hindsight, it was possible that the fans were teasing the national team and the captain for their poor performance.
And here are some reactions:
Fans in Chinnaswamy shouting 'RCB'. Shameful! Just because India lost one game doesn't mean you can call them RCB. #INDvSA
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) September 22, 2019
Crowd chanting RCB RCB when India is losing like RCB. Crowd trolling hard Virat Kohli. #INDvSA
— Sunil - the cricketer (@1sInto2s) September 22, 2019
Crowd chanting RCB, RCB to tell us all who the team has played like today.
— Nikhil ð (@CricCrazyNIKS) September 22, 2019
Just saw the RCB v SA T20I highlights from last night.
— Dennis de Kock (@DennisCricket_) September 23, 2019
For the uninitiated, RCB, also led by Kohli, endured one of their worst seasons in the Indian Premier League earlier this year.
Whatever prompted the 'shifting loyalties' in the fans, it sure was one uncomfortable experience for the players.