‘Team ki asli kaptaan Kavya Maran hai’ – Fans react as Aiden Markram says he doesn’t know what’s behind scenes on Umran Malik exclusion from playing XI

The 65th match of the Indian Premier League 2023 is being played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 18. The 2016 champions are already eliminated from the tournament but can ruin the party for other teams.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl first, however, after losing the toss SRH skipper Aiden Markram talked about Umran Malik missing out on another game and broke his silence while giving a shocking statement on the matter as he said that he doesn’t know what’s going behind the scenes

“We would’ve looked to bat ourselves, our bowlers have been our stronger suit. A couple of changes: Harry Brook comes back in, Kartik Tyagi and Nitish, the debutant, are in. (About Umran Malik) Not too sure to be honest. Certainly, he’s a player with the X factor, bowls at 150kph, but I don’t really what’s about behind the scenes but he has a lot of X factor.. Lots of pride to play for. Guys are full of energy and determination,” Markram said after RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bowl against the hosts in the IPL 2023.

Will SRH ruin RCB’s hopes for the playoffs qualification?

Interestingly, Malik has played only 7 matches in the tournament so far and took 5 wickets but he was kept from the action in the entire month of May, which is quite shocking. Popular cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle also expressed his disappointment about the matter and share a cryptic tweet from his official Twitter account.

“It is a bit worrisome when the captain says “I don’t know what is about behind the scenes……” I have been perplexed about Umran Malik not getting a game too,” read the tweet from Bhogle.

Talking about RCB’s chances for the playoffs qualification, they need to string two wins to think of a place in the top four. If they falter, things would be very tough for them. If they lose, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants would be through. So, it is expected that the majority of the fanbases will get behind SRH. Even Mumbai Indians fans would be backing SRH as that would ensure they have lesser competition.

Here’s how fans reacted: