What is 'Ee sala cup namde'? RCB fans' much-famed war cry finally becomes a reality as team win maiden IPL title

Mayank Bande

What is 'Ee sala cup namde'? RCB fans' much-famed war cry finally becomes a reality as team win maiden IPL title image

[BCCI/Sportzpics]

Ee Sala Cup Namde has been a phrase reverberating around the Indian Premier League for a long time from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans and players.

Since around 2016 — when the franchise last made it to the final, the phrase is always heard whenever a new season is around the corner or ends with RCB not being able to lift the title.

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However, what started as a war cry to uplift the team, it became something that the players and fans refrained from saying, come 2025 — as mentioned by AB de Villiers a few days ago.

In this article, TSN tells you what it stands for and what the updated version of it could be heard from fans and players in the upcoming years.

READ MORE: Virat Kohli pays tribute to AB de Villiers after RCB's IPL win - ‘This win is as much yours as it is ours'

What is Ee Sala Cup Namde?

Ee Sala Cup Namde is a Kannada war cry that the fans and players of the Royal Challengers use to tell everyone that "This is the year we will win the trophy," something that the franchise waited for 18 years.

However, following the win over the Punjab Kings in the final of the IPL 2025, the updated phrase that Virat himself let everyone know on the live broadcast after the final is "Ee Sala Cup Namdu", which translates to This year, the trophy is ours.

Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.