Former South African and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cricketer AB de Villiers has sparked a light-hearted banter with former New Zealand and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Scott Styris over the latter’s perceived jinx on RCB’s fortunes in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season.
RCB has endured a dismal start to the season, languishing at the bottom of the table with just two points from seven games. Styris, who has been spotted wearing the RCB jersey on match days, has become an unwitting target of blame for the team’s struggles.
In a tongue-in-cheek comment on Styris’ social media post, De Villiers urged him to “stop wearing that shirt immediately!!!!” Styris, however, responded with a challenge, offering to give up the RCB jersey if De Villiers agreed to wear a CSK shirt once.
“I said I would wear the shirt. It has been a bad omen. I am a bad mascot for RCB, which is pleasing from my perspective,” Styris said. “So I am prepared to put out a challenge back to AB de Villiers because he says it’s time for me to stop wearing the shirt. I will stop wearing the shirt for RCB matches moving forward if De Villiers wears the CSK shirt once.”
Former England captain Eoin Morgan, who was present during the exchange, agreed that Styris’ counter-challenge was “fair.”
RCB’s latest setback came against Sunrisers Hyderabad, who set a new IPL record for the highest total, amassing 287-3 on Monday. The match also witnessed the highest aggregate for a T20 game, with a combined total of 549 runs.
Despite valiant efforts from Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Dinesh Karthik, RCB fell short by 25 runs, resulting in their sixth defeat of the season.
The banter between De Villiers and Styris has provided a moment of levity amidst RCB’s struggles. Whether or not De Villiers accepts Styris’ challenge remains to be seen, but it is clear that the former South African star is not taking the team’s poor form lightly.
