Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa who featured for both Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), lashed out at Rajat Patidar-led franchise's fans for brutally trolling the Chennai-based franchise during their last outing at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
CSK and RCB are one of the most followed franchises of the cash-rich league as two of the biggest names of Indian cricket (MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli) represent them. Over the past couple of years this rivalry between the two teams has grown more which has been dominated by the Chennai-based franchise, RCB, recently shifting the momentum in their favour after winning the last three encounters, including two matches in the ongoing season of the tournament.
"It was pretty intense, Outside the stadium, they were mocking the team, the players of the team when the bus was leaving, that was one thing that I saw, which I thought was in bad taste. The other one that I saw were the fans fighting with each other. I saw women being heckled, which felt unsavory, to be very honest. We saw that even in Chennai last year, again, uncalled for. It's not on whatsoever," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
Uthappa further pointed out RCB fans holding up white T-shirts with black strips to mock CSK's two-year ban and stated that the rivalry has gone beyond the sport, which is a concerning sign.
"It has gotten pretty intense. They are holding up jerseys, white T-shirts marked with black lines, stating the two years that CSK were banned for. They have kind of written MS' number on it, and Thala under it, depicting that they were in jail for two years, or whatever. It's getting a little beyond sport which concerns me. Because at the end of the day, this is a sport," Uthappa added.
CSK has had a poor outing in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league. The MS Dhoni-led side were the first one to get eliminated from the IPL 2025 playoffs race. CSK managed to win just three matches out of 12 outings and they are currently 10th in the points table. On the other hand, RCB are just a win away from playoff qualification. The Rajat Patidar-led side are currently second in the points table with eight wins in 11 matches.