The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore issued on Monday (November 16) a statement from its official Twitter account clarifying its stance on firecrackers following the immense outrage against Virat Kohli for his eco-friendly message on Diwali.
I hope everyone is enjoying a happy and peaceful Diwali with family and friends. To clarify, the fireworks shown in RCB’s recent celebration video were archival footage of UAE Flag Day celebrations. RCB continues to work hard to protect the environment as we have throughout the years.
– Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 16, 2020
It all started with India and RCB captain Virat Kohli posting a message for his fans, attesting to an eco-friendly Diwali, with a special emphasis on not burning cookies. Kohli’s message can be seen in this video.
Happy diwali pic.twitter.com/USLnZnMwzT
– Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 14, 2020
But, as soon as he posted this message, Kohli was brutally trolled by a large number of people for his double standards when a video of his recent birthday celebrations began to go viral. In that video, Kohli is seen celebrating his birthday with his wife, actress Anushka Sharma, and all of the RCB colleagues as fireworks continue in the background. The video of his birthday can be seen below (stop by 5:50 to watch the fireworks).
Happy Birthday Captain Kohli
Happy faces and positive vibes. The RCB family put together a special video to celebrate King Kohli’s birthday at 12 at night. #PlayBold # IPL2020 #WeAreChallengers # Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/ViaI9eItDV
– Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 5, 2020
Kohli’s birthday video had originally been posted from RCB’s social media and now the franchise has come out clarifying the whole issue. Hence, they have come out in defense of their patron by revealing that the video is actually from the UAE flag day celebrations, which was edited into the video to accompany their theme. The video, according to RCB, is not from Kohli’s birthday.
Kohli immediately started trending on Twitter and other platforms on Diwali and users took to star cricket out of hypocrisy. However, it should be noted that Kohli did not shed any light on the entire fireworks footage and subsequent grudge against him.
It only remains to be seen if RCB’s clarity helps cool down people’s recent resentment towards Kohli.
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