Spectators at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 12, had their eyes, it seemed, only for only one man.
Virat Kohli, the star of the home IPL team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
On a day that RCB announced that Faf du Plessis would captain the franchise in IPL 2022, spectators for the second Test against Sri Lanka revved up the noise each time Kohli did something on the field.
Kohli has played for RCB since the IPL's inaugural edition and has been associated with the franchise for 14 years. He is the only player who has played for just one team since the first IPL season in 2008.
The Chinnaswamy crowd chanted Kohli's name as India won the toss. Spectators even cheered Captain Rohit Sharma's dismissal as the next batter in was Kohli.
As soon as the former RCB skipper -- he led the team from 2011 to 2021 -- made his way to the wicket, the noise was deafening.
Even though Kohli failed to register a big score, dismissed by Dhananjaya de Silva for 23, the noise refused to die down. The cheers continued as India came out to field after scoring 252.
As chants of 'Kohli! Kohli!' rang around the stadium, the man himself, who was fielding in the slips at that time, responded with a heart gesture, winning his fans a zillionth time.
When the crowd started chanting for RCB, Kohli revealed he was wearing a red vest underneath his India shirt -- red is the RCB jersey colour -- egging the crowd on late into the evening.
When the spectators were heard chanting for the recently retired RCB star A B de Villiers, Kohli obliged by mimicking a famous ABD shot.
