In times when Royal Challengers Bengaluru, their players, and fans should be celebrating the Indian Premier League (IPL) title triumph, the franchise is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. After the team's maiden IPL title celebrations in Bengaluru took a tragic turn, resulting in the deaths of 11 fans, the police have made four arrests in the case. Among those four people arrested is the franchise's marketing head, Nikhil Sosale.
Sosale has been in this role at RCB for two years and is employed by Diageo India, a brand that owns United Spirits Limited (USL), the company that has the ownership of the Bengaluru franchise. As soon as the news of Sosale's arrest broke, it took fans little time to unearth Sosale's social media history and his deep connection with RCB's biggest superstar, Virat Kohli.
In several social media posts that fans shared, Sosale could be seen partying with Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, both on formal and informal occasions. In fact, Sosale's wife Malvika Nayak was often spotted watching RCB's matches in the recently-concluded IPL 2025 wth Anushka.
In many posts, Sosale could also be seen with former RCB stars Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, both of whom were with the franchise last year.
The duo's constant presence in RCB's matches had even triggered fans' curiosity about the identity of Malvika. It was then found out that the two are good friends with each other.
Several pictures featuring Sosale, Kohli, Anushka, and Malvika have since been shared by fans on social media. The development, hence, has made Nikhil Sosale a sensation on social media.
As for Malvika, she and Anushka have been friends for a long. A picture from 2018 also features Malvika with Anushka, Virat, and KL Rahul celebrating '10 years of RCB'. Rahul was also a part of the Bengaluru franchise that year.
As part of the investigation into the stampede case outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, the police have also raided the residences of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary Shankar and KSCA Treasurer Jayaram.