Interview of Cricket Fans – 56 – RCB

Thank you for your participation in this interview, tell us your early memories and how you fell in love with this sport.

First of all, thanks a lot for giving me this opportunity, it’s my absolute pleasure to be part of this.

So my earliest memory of Cricket has to be 2011 World Cup Finals. I was a 9-year-old kid back then with no knowledge about the game, whatever I knew back then was Sachin Tendulkar is called God of cricket and Yuvraj Singh had hit six sixes in six balls. That’s it. My family is a huge Dhoni fan so I remember how everybody went crazy after that winning six and I too joined in those celebrations just because my country has won something.

After that, I surely started taking interest in this game, mostly I used to follow Team India’s matches because of Virat Kohli. But then during , I started liking AB De Villiers and after that, there was no looking back, I just needed a reason to watch Cricket. This game became my literal escape from everything and the only constant in my life since all these years. It is something way close to my heart and will forever be. I’ll always be grateful to Cricket for teaching me so many things in life and making me a better version of myself.

Did you get the chance to watch a Cricket match in a stadium? If yes, share your experience.

Oh yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to watch RCB vs KKR live on 19th April, 2019 at Edens. I had some entrance exams in Kolkata and as soon as I saw both my exam and match dates are nearby I convinced my father for it somehow. AB de Villiers didn’t play that game and as I came to know about it I started blaming my luck but then VIRAT KOHLI made it all worth. He scored 100 against KKR in that game and cherry on the cake RCB won it. The anxiety, the excitement, the passion, the atmosphere everything was just surreal. ONE OF THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE, UNDOUBTEDLY.

How has your experience been so far as a fan of this franchise? And tell us how long are you supporting this franchise?

It has been no less than a roller coaster to me. I started supporting them from 2012 it’s been 8 years and tbh I have seen everything I could have….close
games, humiliations, thrillers, heartbreaks, everything.

We’ve had our ups, we’ve certainly had our downs, but we never gave up.

After all these years my love and the support for them has been just kept on increasing. Every year I believe and support them with same zeal and enthusiasm, I don’t know what but there’s something that makes me believe in them always. No matter how many times we fail, I believe we will definitely rise to glory one day and all this will be worth.

Few words for the main man himself?

Every sane person in this world will regard AB De Villiers as the best batsman to have graced the game in this era and I consider myself lucky to be born in the generation where I could see him play. It’s been more than 2 years since he retired from the international cricket but the way he smashes the best bowlers of the world with so much ease is a pure treat to the eyes and is equally hurtful to be honest because he still has a lot of cricket left in him.

He’s a kind of Cricketer you look up to as a batsman, as a wicketkeeper, as a bowler, as a fielder, and most importantly as a human being. I genuinely feel for people who troll him just because he doesn’t have a trophy to back himself.

I admire him in so many ways which I could never sum up in words. There’s a part of me which he has built and I couldn’t be more grateful. I wish I could tell him one day how much I love him and what importance he actually holds in my life.

2016 IPL was like a bittersweet one for RCB, what did you like the most from that year?

From a position where we needed to win six in six games to making it to the playoffs to ending up at No. 2 on the points table and then making it to the finals, I think that was a huge huge victory for us. But then not winning the finals from a position where we could have done it easily is something which will hurt always.

Virat Kohli’s performance was something I liked the most from that year. He was literally in form of his life. It won’t be a hyperbole if I say 2016 was Virat Kohli’s year; from T20 WC to IPL he has just been phenomenal. 4 hundreds in one season, 973 runs in a single season is still a record which is yet to be broken. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the ending he deserved. They tried so hard for the trophy, they gave their all but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.

Your thoughts on Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers? Mention your favourite VK and AB knock along with your answer.

Apart from Chris Gayle, there’s no bigger name in T20 Cricket than AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli. Cricket is a team game they say, but I’m surprised how over the years these two have the ability to change the outcome of the match on their own. A plethora of records they have made together, immense fame and respect they have achieved all these years. Their bond is a different kind all together it’s just not on the field it’s equally beautiful off the field.

Coming to the second question, my favourite knock of them is one against Gujarat Lions in 2016, where AB scored 129* and Virat 109. They made a mockery out of bowlers, it was like they both were competing against each other and I guess that’s the best thing about them they push each other to the limits, thus bringing the best out of them. I just want to enjoy each and every moment of them as long as it lasts, because something like this never existed and will never be seen in future.

They look promising this year, how did they perform so far, in your view?

I’m pretty happy with their performance this year till now, like the way the last three years have gone for us the kind of start we have got I’m happy tbh. They are looking all together a different side, so strong and confident. And the most positive thing is our bowling which has been our biggest headache all these years is doing well. They have stepped up and won us games. Our bowlers have been amazing and that’s my favourite thing about this season so far. We need to improve in certain areas, especially our batting it’s still all about Virat and De Villiers. Devdutt has done well in few games and I’m happy with his performance so far as it’s his debut season. But we still have a lot to improve to reach close to that trophy and hopefully, they’ll work on it with coming games.

Thank you for this comment on my previous post.

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