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'Ee saala cup namde': Even Drake has $1.3 million riding on RCB winning IPL 2025, turns Virat Kohli fanboy on Instagram
Rapper Drake has bet $750k on Royal Challengers Bangalore winning the 2025 IPL, beating Punjab Kings in the final.
As the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) vie for their first Indian Premier League (IPL) title on Tuesday night in an epic clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS), their fans have begun to believe. 'Ee sala cup namde', the popular phrase (meaning this year the cup is ours), has begun to take over social media. It was surprising, however, to see Canadian rapper Drake join the chorus, too. However, Drake has a good reason to rally behind RCB tonight, or rather, over a million reasons.
Drake bets it all on RCB winning IPL 2025
The IPL 2025 final will be played between Rajat Patidar-led RCB and Shreyas Iyer's RCB at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday evening. Experts predict that over a billion dollars have been bet on IPL this year, globally, with fans betting on everything from match results and top scorers to outcomes on every delivery. The final will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in betting revenue. There are punters betting as little as $5 on the game, to some staking thousands of dollars. Among them is Drake.
On Tuesday, Drake took to Instagram to share a screengrab of how he had bet $750k on RCB winning the IPL 2025 on Stake. The receipt showed that with odds of 1.75, Drake stands to win $1.312 million if Virat Kohli's side does indeed beat PBKS tonight. Perhaps that is why an optimistic Drake added, 'Ee sala cup namde' to his caption. The rapper's North American fans were puzzled by his betting on cricket, a sport not popular on the continent. "Oh so we betting on cricket now?" chimed one. Another added, "Wthelly is this? Cricket? 750k? Fk it let me tail this."
RCB and PBKS' IPL heartbreaks
This year, for the first time in three years, IPL will crown a new champion. Neither PBKS nor RCB have ever won the IPL despite being a part of the league since its inception in 2008. RCB were last in the IPL final nine years ago, when Virat Kohli had broken batting records with a mammoth 973-run season. The batter is again in hot form, having scored over 600 runs this year. But in their path is a resurgent PBKS, led by the in-form skipper Shreyas Iyer.
Celeb attendance at IPL 2025 final
The IPL final always draws celebrity attendees. Punjab team owner Preity Zinta is likely to be at the Narendra Modi Stadium, along with actor RJ Mahvash, who is rumoured to be dating PBKS spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Anushka Sharma, the wife of Virat Kohli, is expected to be in the stands cheering for him. As per sources, several Bollywood biggies are expected to be seated in the stands of the 125,000-capacity stadium on Tuesday night.
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