IPL 2025: When football meets cricket! Ex-ENG manager on his passion for gentlemen’s game
Gareth Southgate was present for RR’s last IPL 2025 game against KKR at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which they narrowly lost by just one run. Sports Cricket Football
Cricket and football have often moved ahead together in tandem. Be it football greats like David Beckham and Harry Kane or former England national team manager Gareth Southgate, everyone adores watching and following the gentlemen’s game. Southgate lately made headlines for featuring in attendance for a couple of Rajasthan Royals’ matches in IPL 2025, even donning their kit and cheering for them.
Even though Rajasthan Royals’ results saw them exiting the playoff race sooner than they would have liked, Southgate’s presence in their VIP guest section broke the internet, with several fans calling this, ‘the crossover they never thought of.’
Southgate was present for RR’s last IPL 2025 game against KKR at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which they narrowly lost by just one run.
Speaking on his experience watching the IPL live, Southgate revealed he was a big cricket fan growing up. Gareth added he watched all Test matches during the Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev era and enjoyed doing it throughout.
“Very often, when you play (football) at Wembley, the crowd is a little bit quieter. I have always been a fan of cricket. When I was a young kid, I used to watch Test matches all day long. I mean, I am going back to the era of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and players like that and then over the years, I got to know a lot of the players when I was playing for England, and I knew a lot of the England team,” Southgate said in a chat with RR’s social media team in an interview during a match.
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'You learn from everyone'
Sharing more insights, Southgate revealed that England’s Test captain Ben Stokes visited England’s football national team dressing room last year and spoke with them, giving all a pep talk.
Meanwhile, shedding more light on his maiden IPL-watching experience, Gareth said you always learn something from different coaches across, and that’s why he is here in person.
“Last year, Ben Stokes came and talked to the England team. Also, with a lot of coaches, you learn a lot across sports, so that’s really why I am here,” Southgate said in a video posted by IPL and Rajasthan Royals on Instagram.
“Every sport is evolving rapidly, so much that coaches share, medical teams share, and yeah, it’s always fascinating to go outside your field and learn from other people. As I said, I love the sport. So, it’s lovely to come here, and I have loved coming to India. It is the first time I have been to India. It has been amazing,” he continued.
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