The lack of a Goan team in the IPL has always resulted
in Goan fans being divided over their support, contrary to,
say, a Kolkata based fan or a Mumbai fan who dedicatedly
supports their respective teams. According to a poll
conducted on the Facebook group The Cricket Dugout,
the fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore won the poll by
scoring more than 50%. Conrad Barretto, the admin of the
group, says, “According to most RCB fans, they feel that the
team is well balanced and has the best chance of winning
this year. The fans of Mumbai Indians, who came second
in the poll, have been supporting the team because of the
Mumbai-Goa connection that we have. Chennai Super
Kings came third, perhaps because of its glory in the past
editions of IPL. Those who were CSK supporters in the past
have now latched on to mostly RCB, especially after CSK
was named in the IPL fixing scandal.”
While the fans of Mumbai Indians are rejoicing as their
team has secured a spot in the finals, the fans of CSK and
RCB are doing whatever it takes to support their respective
teams. The ‘new’ RCB fans are also coming together for
screenings of the match to support their team. Terence Vaz
from Panjim says, “I’ve been a supporter of Kings XI Punjab
for the past numerous editions of IPL. I feel they make a
great team, with the firepower of the likes of Glenn Maxwell
and Mitchell Johnson coupled with the enthusiasm of the
youngsters in the team. However, now that they are out
of the tournament, I will be supporting Royal Challengers
Bangalore because of their strong batting line-up. Also,
with Mitchell Starc on their side, their bowling line-up
is also fiery, which makes RCB well balanced overall.”
Another KXIP fan from Candolim, Ramandeep Kaur, says,
“For this edition, I’ve shown my support towards two
teams – Kings XI Punjab and RCB. As I am originally from
Punjab, KXIP is no surprise. RCB has my support because
of players like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and A B de Villiers
whose performances have been splendid. MI and CSK
need to be very careful as once these players settle down
on the crease, they can pose a great threat.”
Overall, the fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore in
Goa seem to outnumber the fans of other teams. Having
said that, the fans of CSK and MI are in no mood to let
the number affect their fandom towards their teams and
will support it till the end.
