The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 opener between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was a thrilling encounter. The game ended on the last ball as RCB won the match by a couple of wickets. Harshal Patel became the Player of the Match for taking his maiden five-wicket haul.
Meanwhile, RCB engaged in a hilarious banter with Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Twitter as they thanked the Punjab-based franchise for releasing Glenn Maxwell. The latter played a match-winning knock of 39 runs off just 28 balls. RCB had tweeted, “First Maxi-mum in Red and Gold and he nearly hits it out of Chennai! Thank you @PunjabKingsIPL. We would hug you if not for social distancing.”
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In a witty reply, the Punjab-based team thanked RCB for releasing Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, and Mayank Agarwal’s previous editions of the IPL. PBKS’s reply read: “Aww, and thank you for Gayle, KL, Mandy, Sarfaraz, Mayank…”
Aww and thank you for Gayle, KL, Mandy, Sarfaraz, Mayank… 🤗#SaddaPunjab #IPL2021 #PunjabKings
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 9, 2021
RCB had no intention of coming behind in the banter as they brought into account PBKS copying their logo and jersey. RCB replied and wrote, “You missed jersey, helmet, pads…and logo? But between us, who’s keeping count?”
You missed jersey, helmet, pads…and logo?
But between us, who's keeping count?🤷♂😉#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #MIvRCB #DareToDream
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 9, 2021
After the victory in the opener, the RCB skipper, Virat Kohli lauded MI as the “strongest side in the competition”. Moreover, he said, “It was important to play against the strongest side in the competition and test our side. Everyone was involved in this game, and when you win by two wickets, it means that everyone has gone in and played.”
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Virat also added, “A lot of options for me as well that helped to bring the game back. The pitch was looking decent in the first half, but to be honest, with the old ball the length ball was difficult to get away.”
RCB’s next game is against David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 14 at the same venue.
