Super Royals Forever: Abdul Razack KP’s journey through time and friendship

The year 2007 saw three unforgettable events unfold in Indian cricket.

First came the ODI World Cup heartbreak in the West Indies - a campaign every Indian fan would rather forget, with Rahul Dravid sir’s forlorn face still haunting us.

But redemption came fast. The inaugural T20 World Cup flipped the script. A young Indian side, led by a long-haired, untested MS Dhoni, took the world by storm.

From Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes to the bowl-out against Pakistan, Sreesanth’s clutch moments, RP Singh’s breakthroughs and Gautam Gambhir’s gritty knock in the final - it was a fairytale. And at its heart, the rise of ‘Captain Cool’.

The third significant event, staying on the T20 buzz, was the BCCI’s unveiling of the Indian Premier League (IPL). This bold, franchise-based experiment would go on to change global cricket forever.

Like every teenage boy, I was interested only in the sports page of the Malayalam daily, which was my only source of information at the time. The announcement of the IPL, along with the speculations and gossip about the participating teams and their owners, dominated the headlines for many weeks.

While browsing the various sports articles, a small piece caught my eye one day. It was about a franchise based in Rajasthan, whose promoters were struggling to gather the financial resources needed to bid for an IPL franchise.

They were planning a public funding campaign to meet their target. For some reason, I felt an instant emotional connection to this franchise after reading the article.

The first thing I did every day was check the news to see what happened to this team. Eventually, the positive news arrived. The BCCI confirmed the franchise's participation, and the team was named Rajasthan Royals.

The never-ending curiosity and surprises began from there - the announcement of the squad, which was devoid of star names like the other seven IPL teams.

The announcement of our first-ever Royal - Shane Warne, our dearest Warnie, was the most shocking news of all. The media had written the team off even before the first ball was bowled.

Yes, we were the underdogs. I always believed in the saying, "A person can achieve anything by being simple and humble," which perfectly described our team.

While other teams had glamour, wealth, and celebrity support, we had only one thing - the belief in teamwork.

Our team exemplified the saying, “teamwork makes the dream work”.

While other franchises acquired superstars, we made our players into superstars. Every member played with their heart and soul, supporting each other in reaching their milestones. They embraced the motto: "One for all and all for one."

I was a schoolkid in 2008, studying in the eleventh standard. While most of my friends were fans of Chennai Super Kings, mainly because of Dhoni, Punjab Kings XI for Yuvi, and KKR for SRK, I was the only Rajasthan Royals supporter among the lot.

I still remember that Sunday, June 1, 2008. The Monsoon Gods were kind to me that night, and the electricity did not shut down.

I can recall every ball of that match. After giving me a mini heart attack, the match proceedings ended on June 2 at midnight, and the next morning was a school day. I called the class teacher, saying I had a fever, just so I could stay home and watch the highlights again and again.

Earlier in May, I had stumbled upon the Rajasthan Royals website and signed up, becoming an active member.

Back then, it was the best hub for online interactions, featuring a dedicated FanZone with Fan Blogs, Forums, a Winners Wall, Fan Polls, a Royalty Leaderboard, Fan of the Week, Player of the Week, contest zones, and much more.

This was the gathering space for the first batch of Super Royals. I connected with many members of the Royal family there, and those bonds remain special to this day.

It quickly grew into a massive, buzzing community - our digital hangout where we shared opinions, views, and passionately cheered for the Royals together.

Some of the amazing people I met include Sandeep Sethi bhaiya, Rohit Sareen bhaiya, Mandakini didi, Horatio Lopes, Arun Kumar bhai, Sameer, Nikhil Das, Nitesh Palrecha, Sheffali Chugh didi, Avish Jolly bhai, Atresh, Ronak Baj, and Ramesh Chaudary Bhai.

Among them, two stood out - Chandravijay Singh Bhaiya, aka CV, one of the most senior and active Royal fans who always kept the forum lively, and Ureshi Pathirana, a die-hard Watto fan, who hailed from Sri Lanka, the first overseas RR supporter I ever came to know.

As I look back on those unforgettable years with the Rajasthan Royals and our fan family from 2008 to 2012, my heart swells with pride and nostalgia. Those were not just seasons of cricket; they were seasons of friendship, unity, and passion.

Every forum post, every fan poll, and every roar from the stands was not just about supporting a team - it was about being part of something bigger, something magical. The bonds we forged in that digital FanZone, in our own small corner of the internet, were more than just fleeting interactions. They became lifelong connections.

We were not just fans, we were a family. No social media platform, no modern-day app, can replicate the pure joy we found in those moments. We shared victories and defeats, celebrated our heroes, and cheered together as one, no matter how far apart we were.

The 2025 chapter

The 17-year-old student who once jumped with joy at the Rajasthan Royals’ first-ever IPL triumph is now a college teacher. But the passion for the Royals? Still the same, then and now.

The 2025 season did not go the way we had hoped. Our team’s performance fell short of expectations. We lost nearly five close encounters, games that could have turned the tables and rewritten the story of the 18th edition.

Injuries, players out of form, and narrow defeats - all played their part. These setbacks are hard to forget.

Yet, 2025 also brought many positive moments into my life. One of the biggest was being selected as the Vice-Skipper of the Super Royals Fans Community, from Kerala.

With great power, as they say, comes great responsibility. It opened a whole new world of friendships with fellow Skippers, Vice-Skippers, and die-hard fans from the Super Royals community.

One unforgettable opportunity was organising a match screening in Kochi, which I successfully hosted. It was not just about watching a game; it was about connecting with passionate Royals fans, sharing energy, emotions, and learning together

It became a memorable experience of leadership and learning. I am still not sure if any other IPL franchise holds its fans as close to its heart as Rajasthan Royals does.