No flags during IPL 2022 leaves RCB 'Super Fan' disappointed

While fans have been seen cheering their heroes wildly at the stadiums, spectators at the four venues in Mumbai and Pune for matches in the league have been greeted with a simple message at the gates of the stadiums: ‘No cheering material or flags allowed.’ The situation has been particularly difficult for a die-hard Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fan like Chirag Khilare, who has been disallowed to take RCB’s flag inside the venues. “It’s disappointing as I’m a ‘Super Fan’ of the team. It takes six hours for me to get ready for a game, which includes one hour of being painted in RCB colours.

I go to the team hotel, wave the RCB flag and then to the stadium. Before every game, I waste one hour at the gate as the security people tell me that fans aren’t allowed inside due to security seasons," Khilare told TOI on Friday. "I’m bound to feel bad.

Without the flag, there’s no fun in cheering for your team as a ‘Super Fan’. It feels a bit empty, and you fail to distinguish yourself in a stadium of 25,000 fans. My flag is three metres long, I can’t wave it without a stick.

“Other ‘Super Fans’ like Ram babu and Sudhir bhai are being allowed to take their flags, but I’m not being allowed to do so, as I don’t have ‘contacts’ at the top . The security people say that people can hit the players with the stick of the fan, but being a ‘Super fan’ I can’t think of doing something like that,” Khilare rued. “A few of the fans managed to take the flags inside after convincing the security guys, but if you go to the gates of the stadiums, you will see lots of fan flags having been dumped there.