Bengaluru: Move over, Priya Varrier. The internet has found a fresh face to admire and that too at an IPL match! While Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were battling it out here on Sunday on the pitch, an RCB fan stole the show from the stands. The girl, Deepika Ghose, instantly attained celebrity status on the internet even as the Royal Challengers ended their dismal IPL season with a victory over Sunrisers.
On Sunday, one of the many cameras panned towards this RCB fan in the middle of the match and the clips of her cheering for RCB have gone viral.
Surprisingly, the girl's Instagram account was also made public and the number of followers on it has since crossed 150k overnight.
There are also quite a few fake accounts that have come up with her name, prompting the fan to post a clarification that this remains her only handle. "PLEASE do not follow or accept any other accounts with my name on Instagram (sic.)," she said in the post.
RCB were the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race. They have ended their season at the bottom of the table with just five wins in the 14 matches they played. While their points tally is the same as that of Rajasthan Royals, their net run rate of -0.607 saw them finish at the bottom.
This prompted captain Virat Kohli and star batsman AB de Villiers to post an apology to the fans through the franchise's social media handles ahead of their final game against Hyderabad.
Kohli said the season was as disappointing for players as it was for fans. "We will do everything we can, next year to turn this around," he said. "Even after three hours of the match being washed out (against Rajasthan Royals), you sat in the stadium and gave us the loudest cheer when we walked out to bat. That's special. Thank you so much for being the lovely fans."
"Sorry about the ups and downs. We are hoping to finish on a high. Please keep supporting us. It keeps us going and, hopefully, something special will come out of the last game and the next season," AB de Villiers had said.
(With agency inputs)