{"id":566963,"date":"2026-05-05T06:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/566963\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T06:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:46:10","slug":"virat-kohli-leads-rcbs-emotional-tribute-to-evan-speechly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/566963\/","title":{"rendered":"Virat Kohli leads RCB&#8217;s emotional tribute to Evan Speechly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"time\">\n<p>                    ANI |<br \/>\n                 Updated: May 05, 2026 11:21  IST\n            <\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=aninews.in\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"mb-4 hidden-xs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ani-trusted-btn-white.png\" alt=\"ani-trusted-source\" class=\"ani-trusted-source\" style=\"width: 120px;\"\/><br \/>\n              <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 5 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) paid a heartfelt tribute to former Head Physio Evan Speechly, who served the franchise for 18 years from 2008 to 2025, marking the end of an era for one of the team&#8217;s longest-standing members.<br \/>Speechly, a key figure behind the scenes through RCB&#8217;s journey across seasons, returned to Bengaluru for a special farewell organised by the franchise, bringing together players and support staff to celebrate his contribution, according to a release.<br \/>Leading the tribute, Virat Kohli spoke about the bond he shared with Speechly over the years:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve probably spent the most amount of time with you in the RCB setup. You&#8217;re one of the OGs. Apart from your hard work and professionalism, the thing that will always stand out is your kindness, care, and integrity. That&#8217;s something I&#8217;ll always carry with me. To say that you&#8217;ll always be a part of this family, you always have been, and you always will be. We&#8217;ll remember you fondly forever.&#8221;<br \/>Reflecting on Speechly&#8217;s impact, Director of Cricket Mo Bobat said: &#8220;Evan has been our lead physio for a huge amount of time. We wanted to bring him back to recognise his contribution, spend some time with him, and celebrate everything he&#8217;s done for RCB.&#8221;<br \/>Moved by the gesture, Evan Speechly expressed his gratitude and deep connection with the franchise: &#8220;When I walked into the hotel yesterday, it felt like coming home. So many of us have been here a long time, and RCB has always felt like family. Everyone in world cricket would love to spend even one season here, I&#8217;ve been fortunate to have had 18. I&#8217;ll always feel a part of RCB.&#8221;<br \/>Speechly&#8217;s tenure with RCB spanned nearly two decades, during which he worked closely with players across generations, becoming a respected and trusted figure within the squad. As the franchise continues its journey, the farewell served as a reminder of the people behind the scenes who shape its culture and legacy. (ANI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANI | Updated: May 05, 2026 11:21 IST Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 5 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,194193,17773,17779,17774,23306,194194,110406,47712,101,56,54,55,15624],"class_list":["post-566963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-evan-speechly","tag-indian-premier-league","tag-ipl","tag-ipl-2026","tag-ipl-news","tag-ipl-updates","tag-mo-bobat","tag-royal-challengers-bengaluru","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-virat-kohli"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}