Hours after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was eliminated from the playoffs of the IPL 2023, fans of the RCB went on to issue death threats to Indian star cricketer Shubman Gill and his sister.
RCB was defeated by Gujarat Titans (GT) in a closely-contested match, played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 21.
Despite a stellar performance and second consecutive century from Virat Kohli, GI beats RCB by 6 wickets. Subman Gill scored 104 runs in just 52 balls.
Some fans of the RCB, who were dejected with the result, lost their cool and went on to abuse Gill and his sister on social media. Many of them also went on to issue death and rape threats.
One Twitter user (@VamosVirat) posted a picture of a burnt car and wished that it was the vehicle driven by Shubman Gill. “With no one outside to put him into hospital,” he added.
Another RCB labelled his sister Shahneel Gill as a ‘transgender’. “…From this day, remember, everything wrong that happens in your life will be because I prayed for it…” he cursed.
Another Twitter user (@gayle_vishnu) openly wished for the death of Shubman Gill. The RCB ‘fan’ also said that he did not care if his ID was suspended.
Shubman Gill’s sister’s Instagram was flooded with hate comments, ranging from remarks about her sexual orientation to prayers for her brother’s death.
This is not the first time that RCB supporters have resorted to such behaviour. Earlier, threw vulgar comments on Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni.
Seeing the hateful comments, many social media users tweeted in support of Shubman and his sister. One user wrote, ” I am a fan of Virat Kohli but I respect Shubham bhai he is the future of our Indian cricket I want to apologize to everyone whoever is abusing Gill cannot be a real cricket fan ”
Another user wrote, “Some of the sick kohli fans abusing Gill & his family (especially his sister) This toxicity and the negative energy creates by these sk called fans is also one reason for the king to not see the light GILL is the Future superstar of Indian cricket.”
It is to be noted that, in yesterday’s match Shubman Gill scored his second straight IPL century, laced with five fours and eight sixes at a strike-rate of 200 in a high-scoring thriller. Gill’s century helped GT register a dashing victory to dash RCB’s hopes of entering the playoffs. Shubman sizzled with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls.
“I am in good form, it’s about getting a start and then converting it into a big one. In the first half of the IPL, I was missing out on those big ones. I was getting a lot of 40s and 50s. Thankfully, it’s all working out for me in the business end of the IPL. You need to keep playing shots in T20 cricket. You have to keep the intent and keep applying yourself, keep the belief,” Gill said after the match.
Gujarat Titans will take on Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 1 on Tuesday in Chennai.
