IPL 2025: The linguistic controversy that originated in South India has now reached the world of sports. Former Team India captain and star batsman Virat Kohli’s team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is also stuck in a linguistic dispute. There is resentment among the Kannada speaking fans of the team after RCB created its account in Hindi on social media account X. This account was created in October and till now only five posts have been posted from this account.
RCB created account in Hindi on X
The mega auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) was recently held in Jeddah on 24 and 25 November. During the mega auction, RCB bought 19 players while retained three players including Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli has been associated with RCB for a long time but this team has not been able to become IPL champion yet.
The RCB team is also stuck in a linguistic dispute amid the mega auction held in Jeddah. Actually, there are a large number of fans of cricket and RCB in Hindi speaking areas and to attract them, an account has been created on X by RCB in Hindi. So far five tweets have been made on this account created in October, but resentment has increased among the Kannada speaking fans of RCB regarding this. There are two and a half thousand followers on this account so far.
Virat Kohli talked to RCB fans in Hindi
A video of Virat Kohli’s statement has also been posted in RCB’s Hindi post. During this video, Virat Kohli is giving information that he has once again been retained by RCB. During this, Virat Kohli also says that RCB is not just a team for me but I have a close relationship with it which has been going on for years.
Virat Kohli also says that the experiences I have gained while playing with RCB have been life changing. My experience of playing with RCB has been unique and RCB fans must be feeling the same. This is the reason why I never feel like joining any other team. I have developed a very emotional bond with this team. Kohli also said that during the next three years with the team, my dream is to make RCB the IPL champion and during this time I am confident of getting the full support of the cricket fans.
Accusation of imposing Hindi on Kannada speaking fans
There is a lot of resentment among Kannada supporter groups and fans regarding the creation of Hindi account by RCB. He has strongly criticized this step of RCB. He has also made a big allegation of imposing Hindi on Kannada speaking supporters. Many fans of RCB have expressed their displeasure over creating accounts in Hindi on social media. Along with this, an online petition has also been started in which the RCB management has been requested to reconsider the decision.
In this, it has been argued on behalf of RCB fans that the fan base of RCB is Kannada speaking. Therefore, tweets should be made in the local language instead of Hindi. RCB is headquartered in Bengaluru and in recent times some Hindi speaking people in Bengaluru have faced discrimination on the basis of language.