At a time when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), their players, and fans should be basking in the joy of their maiden IPL title win, the franchise is now embroiled in controversy. The celebrations in Bengaluru took a tragic turn, resulting in the deaths of 11 fans, and now the police have arrested four individuals in connection with the incident. Among those arrested is none other than RCB’s marketing head, Nikhil Sosale.
Sosale’s Close Connection With Kohli-Anushka Surfaces
Sosale, who has served as the marketing head of RCB for the past two years, is an employee of Diageo India, which owns United Spirits Limited (USL)—the company behind the RCB franchise. Once the news of Sosale’s arrest went public, it didn’t take long for netizens to dive into his social media history, where they quickly uncovered his deep ties with RCB’s biggest star, Virat Kohli.
Multiple social media posts began circulating online, showing Sosale at both formal and informal gatherings with Kohli and his wife, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. In fact, Sosale’s wife, Malvika Nayak, was frequently spotted alongside Anushka in the stands during RCB matches throughout the recently concluded IPL 2025 season.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒌𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅𝒆,” 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝑿.
As the legal proceedings unfold, this unexpected development has added a fresh layer of drama to what should have been a historic week of celebrations for RCB and its fans.
Also Read: Virat Kohli ‘Lost for Words’ After 11 Fans Die in RCB IPL Victory Stampede