Although the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is months away, the competition and zeal among the teams are still throbbing. And on Tuesday, a friendly banter on Twitter among the winners of the last three IPL seasons left people excited and in splits.
It all started with a rather unthreatening selfie shared by Hardik Pandya on the micro-blogging site. Sharing a photo of himself with his Mumbai Indians teammates — Kieron Pollard and elder brother Krunal Pandya, the all-rounder wrote, “I had to hold my phone pretty high to fit Big Polly into the frame. Happy to see you again my brother.”
I had to hold my phone pretty high to fit Big Polly into the frame 😂 Happy to see you again my brother 😘 ❤ pic.twitter.com/lNXnI89B4E
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) November 13, 2018
The photo got IPL fans excited and even garnered the attention of the franchise, who while retweeting Pandya’s tweet posted a challenge on Twitter. “Find a better allrounder trio. We will wait,” MI wrote in their tweet acknowledging the efforts of all-rounder trio, who have been significantly responsible for maintaining the team’s dominance and success record in the tournament.
Find a better allrounder trio. We will wait ⏳😏 #CricketMeriJaan @hardikpandya7 @KieronPollard55 @krunalpandya24 https://t.co/wBnnKrVdF9
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2018
Not taking the challenge lightly, Sunrisers Hyderabad was the first to respond with their deadly trio. The IPL 2016 winners shared a photo of Afghanistan superstars Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi alongside Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and captioned it, “The wait is over”.
The wait is over! 😉 pic.twitter.com/MM5nzuuJDt
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) November 13, 2018
However, MI made a stunning comeback by posting an image of their three IPL trophies over the years, along with a thinly veined taunt at their lack of success in comparison.
The wait goes on…🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/uDeM0WImIt
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2018
The three times IPL winners – Chennai Super Kings, jumped in at this stage, tweeting a post containing three images of their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hailing him as the perfect all-rounder trio.
Moondru Mugam 🦁🦁🦁#Thala #WhistlePodu 💛 pic.twitter.com/0thaMqeIE1
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) November 13, 2018
As far as the upcoming season of the IPL is concerned, the franchises are busy finalizing the list of players they want to retain and release. The window for retention and trade ends on November 15.