The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was struck by a fresh controversy surrounding the coin toss on Friday after the match referee allegedly blocked the view of the cameraman and picked up the coin immediately during the match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium. The IPL broadcaster has started a fresh ritual of zooming in on the coin right after toss to avoid controversy and allegations on social media, which had sparked earlier this seasons after Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Faf du Plessis seemingly sparked the talk. On Saturday, during the match against Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Du Plessis pulled off a savage act to take a dig at the broadcaster's ritual.
Nearly three weeks back, Du Plessis seemed to have gestured to Pat Cummins during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad that match referee Javagal Srinath had favoured Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in one of their previous games after the coin landed far behind the captains standing for the toss. The same was also accused by fans on social media, although there was not substantiate proof on Srinath's act.
In response to the allegation, the broadcaster began zooming in on the coin after toss before match referee calls out who won it in a bid to avoid confusion. On Saturday, as the cameraman looked to zoom in on the coin, Du Plessis picked it up and held it closer to the camera before revealing that he wants to put the visitors to bat first.
"The conversations (among the players) have been good. To make that shift from the beginning, that's pleasing. From a batting perspective we have found our mojo. The guys can come in and bat freely," Du Plessis said after winning the toss as RCB made no changes in their playing XI.
{{/usCountry}}"The conversations (among the players) have been good. To make that shift from the beginning, that's pleasing. From a batting perspective we have found our mojo. The guys can come in and bat freely," Du Plessis said after winning the toss as RCB made no changes in their playing XI.
{{/usCountry}}Gujarat, on the other hand, made two changes - Manav Suthar earned his debut cap while Josh Little has been included.
"The talk is to win four in four. It's important to turn up and deliver our best. I feel our fielding has let us down. We have had a chat about it. We need to be a better team as a fielding unit. IPL is such a long tournament. It's important to turn up on the day. We have two changes, Manav Suthar[/b] makes his debut and Josh Little comes in," Shubman Gill said.