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The 2025 season of the Indian Premier League, which was temporarily halted due to rising political tensions between India and Pakistan, is all set to make a comeback. The tournament will resume on May 17 with a highly anticipated encounter between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), two of the most followed franchises in the league.
Robin Uthappa raises alarm over fan toxicity
While the cricketing action is set to return, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has voiced deep concern over a disturbing trend off the field — the growing toxicity among IPL fan bases, particularly those supporting RCB and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
In a recent interaction with cricket analyst Jarrod Kimber on his YouTube channel, Uthappa shared troubling personal observations about the increasing hostility between rival fans. Having donned jerseys for both CSK and RCB during his playing career, Uthappa expressed dismay at how once-friendly banter has spiraled into aggressive and unacceptable behavior.
He described incidents where fans mocked players as team buses departed, calling such behavior “in bad taste.” More concerning were altercations between rival supporters, with Uthappa witnessing women being heckled — something he labeled as “unsavory” and completely unacceptable.
“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.
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Uthappa criticizes mockery of CSK’s past suspension
Uthappa expressed concern over fans using symbolic gestures to insult CSK, referring to a trend where individuals held up white T-shirts marked with black lines to mock the franchise’s two-year suspension. Some even went as far as writing MS Dhoni’s jersey number along with the word “Thala” to suggest imprisonment, an act Uthappa found deeply disrespectful. He warned that such gestures are pushing fan rivalry beyond the realm of sport, emphasizing that cricket should remain a celebration of competition, not a platform for personal attacks.
“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,” added Uthappa.
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