Namma RCB fans were in for an absolutely sakkath surprise yesterday morning when captain Virat Kohli announced that the team was dedicating the ‘Number 12’ jersey to their army of loyal fans. With players like Parthiv Patel and Brendon McCullum stating that one of RCB’s players would retire on April 4th, fans of the squad were on their toes as they waited for the big reveal.

Skipper Kohli went live on Facebook to make the exciting announcement that the squad would be retiring the number 12 jersey and from now on, RCB’s ardent supporters would be the 12th man!




Superfan Vitthal Shanbhag reveals that he wasn’t expecting this piece of news at all. “The suspense was building up since yesterday and we were all kicked to see what was in store. Virat went online and unveiled Jersey No. 12 and announced that we’re all the 12th member of the squad. Fifty of us were given RCB jerseys with number 12 printed on it,” he says. Being a fervent RCB buff since 2008, he shares, “This is just the beginning. We were told that we have a lot of things in store for us and that we will have different stands for all the 12th men where we can sport these jerseys together in the stadium.”

Sheetal Suzanna Fernandez, a security test engineer is another lucky fan who got to wear the special jersey yesterday. “It feels so amazing – we’ve been waiting for this day since a couple of days. It’s so good to see everyone in their fan jerseys. Now, we feel like we’re one step closer to the team,” she exclaims, adding, “I knew that the 12th man would be the fan army, and it turned out to be true. I’m waiting to watch our team lift the cup - Ee sala cup namdhe!”

Now with RCB’s 12th man secret being out, student Varun T feels that there’s no better way to connect with fans. “We’ve been loyally supporting our home team for so many years despite its ups and downs. By making this revelation, RCB has made all of us really happy and we feel that our effort to support our squad is being noticed and valued by the team,” he says. So, are you ‘red’dy to don Number 12 and shout ‘ESCN”?!