After Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured their maiden IPL title in 2025, congratulatory messages poured in — including one from the team’s former owner, Vijay Mallya.
"RCB are IPL Champions finally after 18 years. Superb campaign right through the 2025 tournament. A well balanced team Playing Bold with outstanding coaching and support staff. Many congratulations! Ee sala cup named," Mallya posted on X.
But what truly grabbed eyeballs online was a viral screenshot shared by businessman Harsh Goenka. It allegedly showed a reply from the State Bank of India (SBI) to Mallya’s post, reading: “Sir, come to India. We will celebrate together.”
Fact check
The moment lit up social media, with many assuming it was real — until sharper-eyed netizens raised a red flag.
While SBI is known to respond to customer queries on X, users pointed out that a playful reply to Mallya — who owes thousands of crores to Indian banks — was highly unlikely. Calls to verify the authenticity of the post led many to fact-checking tools, including Grok.
Grok’s response was clear: “No evidence shows SBI commented on your RCB IPL 2025 win post."
"The alleged State Bank of India (SBI) comment on Vijay Mallya's X post celebrating Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL 2025 win, stating "Sir come to India, we will celebrate together," is likely fake. There is no evidence of this comment on SBI's official X account (@TheOfficialSBI) or in credible news reports. The informal, sarcastic tone is inconsistent with SBI's typical formal communication style," Grok said in another response.
In short, it was just another WhatsApp-style forward that went viral.
