Brendon McCullum trolls AB de Villiers’ injury ahead of RCB’s opener in IPL 2017

Royal Challengers Bangalore have been ravaged by injuries before the start of the 2017 Indian Premier League. Virat Kohli will miss some matches as he will undergo a fitness assessment only in the middle of April while AB de Villiers will miss the opening match due to a back injury. KL Rahul will miss the whole tournament due to a shoulder injury while Sarfaraz Khan, the 19-year-old dashing batsman, could miss the entire tournament due to a knee injury. (Full coverage IPL 2017)

Ahead of RCB’s opening game against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, de Villiers confirmed on his Twitter handle that he was disappointed to miss the match. The injury had forced him to miss a domestic one-day match for the Titans in South Africa.

Really disappointed to be missing the opening game of the IPL tomorrow, good luck to @ShaneRWatson33 and the rest of the @RCBTweets boys!

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) April 4, 2017

However, RCB’s growing injury list has caught the attention of Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand skipper who is playing for Gujarat Lions. He trolled de Villiers and stated that the RCB coach himself must be included in the team.

@ABdeVilliers17 @ShaneRWatson33 @RCBTweets Dodgy back again bro? You fellas almost need to roll out the coach for game 1!?

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) April 4, 2017

RCB’s coach is Daniel Vettori, who has played for both RCB and Delhi Daredevils. The left-arm orthodox spinner, who played in 113 Tests and picked up 362 wickets, has been coach of RCB since the 2014 season. De Villiers said that it would be fun to get Vettori back in the squad while McCullum was confident that he can still take wickets and bowl economically.

@Bazmccullum @ShaneRWatson33 @RCBTweets Now that would be good entertainment!

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) April 4, 2017

@ABdeVilliers17 @ShaneRWatson33 @RCBTweets He would prob still get his 2 for 18 off 4 overs! Proper bowler! Catch u soon, quick recovery bro

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) April 4, 2017

Royal Challengers Bangalore have been deemed the favorites to win the IPL this time. The team has lost in the final of the tournament in 2009, 2011 and 2016 but with injuries plaguing the team, the task has become difficult.