The former Indian cricketer has strongly criticised the hostility between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans, stating that the rivalry has crossed the boundaries of sportsmanship and turned personal.
The recent clash between the two teams at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was a nail-biting encounter, where the Rajat Patidar-led team won the match in the last ball. However, the the post-match scenes outside the stadium drew more attention for various wrong reasons as several RCB supporters were seen mocking CSK fans. Certain footage emerged in which women were also heckled, leading to a stern reaction from Uthappa. The former IPL cricketer, who has represented both franchises during his career ,expressed disappointment over the behavior and called it unruly.
“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,” said Uthappa to Jarrod Kimber in his YouTube Channel.
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The mockery was so intense: Uthappa
The 39-year-old also recalled how RCB fans had mocked the five-time champions by referencing their two-year suspension. The CSK franchise was banned from the in 2016 and 2017 due to a spot-fixing scandal. A certain section of spectators took the rivalry too far by holding up jail-styled jerseys with veteran MS Dhoni’s name printed on them. He pointed out that this is getting beyond sports and should be taken into consideration.
“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.
