Two of the most successful franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history — Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — got off to losing starts in the T20 league, going down to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans in their respective opening clashes. The results that the two marquee franchises attained at the start of the league saw fans and former cricketers express their take on social media. Even former MI and CSK stars clashed on Twitter, mocking each other’s former teams.
Chennai were no match for defending champions Gujarat as the two teams locked horns in the IPL Season 16 opener. Similarly, Mumbai were completely outplayed by Bengaluru in their opening match of the campaign.
Reacting to the result, former Mumbai Indians pacer Mitchell McClenaghan shared a ‘positive note’, saying MI have never won the IPL title when they secured a win in their opening game.
“Positive Note. @mipaltan have never won a championship after winning the first game. Second Positive in general. How good is it to see games being played in Home grounds! Love it @IPL is back!”, he tweeted.
In reply, former CSK all-rounder Scott Styris wrote: “Another positive note… Mumbai have also finished last when they didn’t win their first match”.
Another positive note… Mumbai has also finished last when they didn’t win their first match.
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) April 2, 2023
McClenaghan then responded to Styris’ tweet, saying: “On another positive note – on two occasions Mumbai beat CSK in the final and on a 3rd occasion beat CSK dressed as Pune”
On another positive note – on two occasions Mumbai beat CSK in the final and on a 3rd occasion beat CSK dressed as Punehttps://t.co/QCM2qNG93b
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) April 3, 2023
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are the traditional ‘heavy weights’ in the Indian Premier League, having dominated the T20 league with their superlative performances over the years. However, both teams seem to be lacking quality in multiple areas, going into the 16th edition of the league.
But, their skipper MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are known to turn things around, and there’s enough time for them to do so in this campaign.
Topics mentioned in this article
