IPL Rivalry Turns Tragic: Kolhapur Family Tragedy Linked to 'Mumbai will Lose' Comment

The 2024 IPL season has seen the most venomous targeting of a player ever. And this time, it has gone way beyond the usualonlinehate. A 65-year-old man died on March 30 – two days after he was seriously injured in a fight with his neighbour, 70-year-old Balwant Jhanjge, while watching an Indian Premier League match on TV from their small Maharashtra village.

It was during MI’s 3rd  game, against Sunrisers in Hyderabad, that an elderly farmer was killed for simply saying ‘Mumbai Indians will lose. The deceased Bandopant Tibile (63) resident of Hanmantwadi. The accused Balwant Zhanjage (50) and Sagar Zhanjage (35), from Hanmantwadi along with others were watching the match 

According to officials, they were already disappointed because of the huge score displayed by the SRH batsmen.Even after they were confident that MI would surely successfully chase the target. They were joined by Tibile. Tibile was a fan of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, after the departure of Rohit Sharma on merely 26 runs, Tibile raised doubts about the possibility of MI winning the match. Soon after, Tibile praised his favourite CSK team.Angered by that, the accused started beating up Tibile with wooden sticks. Immediately locals intervened and he was swiftly transported to a hospital but passed away while undergoing treatment on March 31.

Tibile’s son Vijay speaking on the issue said, “They were watching a match. The argument broke out because of an incident in a match. The biggest lesson is to not get too involved emotionally in cricket. When will we treat sport as sport?”The tragedy has stunned Hanmantwadi, a village of a few thousand on the outskirts of Kolhapur, and left its inhabitants speechless. “It’s a modest village with people who are farmers with modest lands and meagre earnings. We are far away from the hustle of big cities. It’s an uncomplicated, peaceful life,” says Sangram Bhapkar, the sarpanch. 

Kishor Shinde, police inspector at Karveer Police station said, “Accused are cricket fans, who were under the influence of alcohol when they assaulted Tibile.’’Shinde further confirmed that there were no other reasons behind this murder and there was no personal rivalry between the accused and the deceased. A case has been registered at Karveer police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)