**Toxic Cricket Fans Need to Calm Down**

Because supporting your favorite player shouldn’t require hating everyone else’s

“Girl, who is your favorite cricketer?”

“Umm… Bumrah.”

“No no no. Virat, Rohit, or Dhoni?”

Excuse me?

Who is this man and why did he just give me multiple-choice questions?

Why are these the only three options?

What about everyone else?

What about bowlers?

So basically, today I am talking about toxic cricket fans.

And yes, they absolutely exist.

One thing I have noticed is that many cricket fans don’t actually ask who your favorite cricketer is.

They ask:

“Which famous batter do you support?”

Because apparently cricket begins and ends with batters.

My favorite cricketer is Bumrah.

Yes.

You read that correctly.

A bowler.

I know this information may shock some people.

Apparently bowlers are allowed to have fans too.

Crazy concept.

Sometimes I genuinely wonder:

Why is everyone’s favorite cricketer always a batter?

Do bowlers not count as cricketers?

Because the amount of respect bowlers get compared to batters is honestly hilarious.

People remember sixes for years.

A perfect yorker disappears from their memory in six minutes.

And then there is another category of fans.

The ones who don’t follow cricket.

They follow cricketers.

Huge difference.

Some people know every hairstyle, every advertisement, every gym picture, and every Instagram post of their favorite player.

But ask them:

“What is LBW?”

Silence.

Ask them:

“What is a powerplay?”

More silence.

Ask them:

“What is the difference between a no-ball and a wide?”

Sis, are you following a cricketer or a model?

Because “favorite cricketer” is supposed to mean you enjoy their cricket.

Not their abs.

Not their jawline.

And honestly, the worst part of cricket fandom is not even ignoring bowlers.

It is the fan wars.

Virat fans fighting Rohit fans.

Rohit fans fighting Dhoni fans.

Dhoni fans fighting everyone.

Everyone fighting everyone.

For what?

These players themselves often respect each other more than their fans do.

Meanwhile fans are conducting World War III in Instagram comment sections.

And sometimes it becomes genuinely disturbing.

People abuse players.

Abuse families.

Send threats after losses.

Turn a sport into a personal fight.

Imagine getting angry because a stranger hit a cricket ball in a way you didn’t like.

Social media made it worse.

One bad innings and suddenly:

“Drop him.”

One good innings and suddenly:

“Greatest player of all time.”

Cricket fans change opinions faster than fashion trends.

Every cricket reel has:

• GOAT 🐐

• KING 👑

• FRAUD 🤡

• RETIRE NOW 😡

There is no middle ground.

Apparently every player is either the greatest athlete in human history or the worst thing to happen to cricket.

Nothing in between.

At the end of the day, I just want to say:

Love cricketers for their cricket.

Respect bowlers.

Respect batters.

Respect fielders.

Respect players from teams you don’t support.

Because every professional cricketer has worked harder than any random person typing abuse from their bedroom.

And lastly…

RCB fans.

Please live in peace.

And let the rest of the world live in peace too.

Every IPL season you people age ten years and take the entire internet with you.