Jasprit Bumrah may have been the latest entrant into the Rishabh Pant-led club of banter and vocal interactions, but seems like he did not choose the right person to interact with for he may just have rubbed captain Virat Kohli off the wrong way.
The Indian captain is also the skipper of the Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore and will be up against seven other teams in the upcoming league in a bid to win his team their maiden title. Among the other teams, Mumbai Indians will be a major player as always with Jasprit Bumrah being their main weapon. Bumrah has quickly risen to immense prominence in international cricket and is arguably the world's best bowler in all formats of the game – T20, ODI and Test cricket.
Leveraging the tag of "best bowler in the world" bestowed upon Bumrah by Kohli, a recent promotional video for the IPL was shot where the bowler warned Kohli to be careful of his stumps. Now the RCB captain has struck back and he did not seem too pleased with Bumrah's cheekiness to call him Cheeku bhaiyya.
Kohli then questioned Bumrah's audacity as the pacer sledged his captain, "Apne captain ko sledge karega? Chal, aakhir seekh hi gaya tu." This roughly translates to, "Are you seriously sledging your captain? All right, you have finally learnt the tricks of the trade." Subsequently, the mood of the video changes as Kohli digs his fork into a baby carrot on his plate with evident anger that reflects his intensity on the pitch. He then goes on to say, "Bas Cheeku bhaiyya se, koi udhari expect mat karna" which translates to, "Do not expect any favours from your brother on the pitch."
???? - how did you react to the King's response? ?
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 27, 2019
It's #GameOn in the VIVO @IPL and we are in for a treat when @imVkohli & @Jaspritbumrah93 face off! Watch it all LIVE, March 23 onwards on Star Sports. #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/pJsjjMHGai
In the first part of the video, Bumrah had laid down the gauntlet for Kohli saying, "World ka best bowler? Nahi yaar. Abhi toh world ke best batsman ka dande udaana baaki hai." Bumrah had basically challenged Kohli saying that he will make Kohli's stumps fly after he gets clean bowled.
Kohli has been very openly appreciative of Bumrah's rise to fame saying that the pacer's attitude and mindset sets him apart from his peers. "He has only been playing for 12 months. He is obviously the best bowler in the world, in my opinion, and also a match-winner, without doubt," Kohli had said of Bumrah following the Boxing Day Test match in Sydney.
Kohli will be seen in action facing Bumrah on March 28 in Bengaluru when RCB takes on Mumbai Indians.