Cricket fans on social media had a field day on Saturday as Twitter released its list of hashtags for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Like every edition, this year’s IPL hashtags involved the slogans of each team with an emoji of the teams’ jerseys. What prompted users to react with humour was that the hashtag for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team had the emoji of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)’s yellow jersey. RCB’s jersey is a combination of red and black.
The hashtags released by Twitter were a combination of the names of the franchises or the slogans, followed by an emoji of the team jerseys. CSK’s hashtags had the terms ‘Whistle Podu’ and ‘Yellove’, while the hashtags for Sunrisers Hyderabad are ‘Orange Army’ and ‘Orange or nothing’. Similarly, the hashtags for RCB are ‘Play Bold’ and ‘We are challengers’. However, instead of a red and black jersey emoji, Twitter hashtags for RCB popped up with CSK’s yellow jersey, sparking a massive reaction from fans of RCB and other teams on Twitter.
RCB reacted to the faux pas by taking a dig at Twitter and telling them to hire good engineers from Bengaluru to fix it. “Hey @Twitter @TwitterIndia, looks like you need better tech engineers. Bengaluru is the right place to start hiring. #WhatsWithYourEmojis,” the franchise tweeted.
Hey @Twitter @TwitterIndia, looks like you need better tech engineers. Bengaluru is the right place to start hiring. #WhatsWithYourEmojis
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 3, 2021
Meanwhile, CSK ensured its involvement in highlighting its jersey in RCB’s hashtag by publishing memes from Tamil films.
.@Twitter Right nw! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #PlayBold #RCB pic.twitter.com/RaZdIRxqnq
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 3, 2021
https://t.co/OkkU3DbTsC pic.twitter.com/XaxICCcny3
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 3, 2021
Several users also took a dig at Twitter and the teams in light of the mix-up.
King knew #WhistlePodu #PlayBold #WhistleBold pic.twitter.com/FYi8EMsMva
— Heisenberg (@internetumpire) April 3, 2021
Twitter hashtag #PlayBold comes with CSK jersey because the tagline suits them more than RCB.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) April 3, 2021
Twitter engineers after creating fights b/w csk and rcb fan#PlayBold #twitter pic.twitter.com/5u148qvzDl
— Nakul Bharti (@knakul853) April 3, 2021
#WeAreChallengers#PlayBold
— (@ishubh_07) April 3, 2021
RCBians after seeing these trend with CSK Jersey pic.twitter.com/euGISj1Uai
The IPL is scheduled to begin on April 9 and the first phase of the games will be held behind closed doors. This year’s IPL has also been scheduled in such a way that the teams will not play a single match on their home grounds. For example, CSK will not play even a single game at Chepauk stadium in Chennai, while Mumbai Indians will not be playing a match in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
All the teams have started their pre-league camp in the cities allotted to them, with many of the players currently undergoing quarantine before they are allowed to join the squad.