Royal Challengers Bengaluru moved a step closer to the IPL 2025 playoffs, while defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders bowed out of contention as persistent rain washed out their clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
With the game officially called off at 10:24 pm without a single ball bowled or a toss conducted, both teams walked away with a point apiece.
But while the cricketing action was halted, something extraordinary happened off the field.
In a powerful tribute to Virat Kohli’s recent and quiet retirement from Test cricket, the Chinnaswamy crowd turned into a sea of white — not the usual RCB red. Fans arrived wearing India’s Test jerseys, a symbolic farewell orchestrated through the viral campaign #WhiteForVirat and #FarewellInWhite.
Kohli, who announced his red-ball retirement via Instagram earlier this month without a farewell match, received an ovation of a different kind.
Vendors sold white Kohli jerseys, chants echoed his name, and the emotional atmosphere made it clear: this was more than just an IPL fixture. It was the crowd giving their beloved Test stalwart the send-off he never got on the pitch.
The match may have been washed out, but the evening etched itself into memory — a rain-drenched, heartfelt goodbye to one of India's greatest Test captains.
The social media campaign:
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