Twitter recently exploded with angry reactions after Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson publicly slammed his team for posting his embarrassing photo on the microblogging site. Rajasthan Royals wasted no time in taking down the tweet, triggering speculations that all was not well between Samson and his team ahead of the start of the 15th edition of the IPL. However, subsequent social media posts by Rajasthan Royals indicated that it may have been a part of a well-planned prank, leaving fans incensed.
It all started with Rajasthan Royals posting a photo of Samson, who was seen seeting in the team bus with his head wrapped with a towel. The caption of the tweet read, “Kya khoob lagte ho? (How amazing you look).”
The tweet evoked angry reaction from Samson, who tweeted, “Its ok for friends to do all this but teams should be professional.”
Its ok for friends to do all this but teams should be professional..@rajasthanroyals https://t.co/X2iPXl7oQu
— Sanju Samson (@IamSanjuSamson) March 25, 2022
What followed next was Rajasthan Royals deleting the tweet. The news of Samson hitting out at his own team just hours before the start of the new IPL season was widely covered by media outlets across India. Media outlets also quoted the ‘official statement’ from Rajasthan Royals, which promised to take action against its social media team.
“In light of today’s events, we will be making changes to our approach and team on social media. Everything is well within the squad ahead of the first game as the boys prepare for SRH. The management will revisit our overall digital strategy and appoint a new team in due course. We realise that it is the IPL season and fans want the account to post updates regularly. We will find temporary solutions in the interim,” Rajasthan Royals was quoted as saying.
However, fans were left perplexed by the IPL franchise’s next social media posts that indicated that everything may have been a part of a prank. The team posted a video of Jos Buttler, R Ashwin, Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara among others bidding goodbye to the Rajasthan Royals’ social media admin. While sharing the video of the social media admin’s firing, Rajasthan Royals tagged Samson by saying, ‘PS: Love you @IamSanjuSamson.”
One last time.
PS: Love you, @IamSanjuSamson. ???? pic.twitter.com/vvYalpFPKI
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 25, 2022
Rajasthan Royals shared another video of a new admin’s audition, making it abundantly clear that the entire episode was a prank.
This prank was incomplete without a fake audition. ????
P.S. Tough luck, @yuzi_chahal ????#RoyalsFamily | #HallaBol pic.twitter.com/aM3cWJqucv
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 26, 2022
However, the fans did not find the prank funny as they began to lash out at the IPL franchise from Rajasthan.
Unfollowed ???????? pic.twitter.com/3ltCcKH5FR
— Aadarsh (@ParagaHateBot) March 26, 2022
If @rajasthanroyals is considering to engage in such ridiculous pranks in the future, I’m sorry I’m gonna unfollow them and might even consider unfollowing Sanju Samson for agreeing to do such stuff. I don’t care whether people think I’m not cool enough
— Farhan (@farhanji0502) March 25, 2022
Time to unfollow this joke of a franchise @rajasthanroyals run by one of the biggest joker @JakeLushMcCrum and other equally idiotic management. There’s a reason they are at the bottom in terms of brand value. https://t.co/ovjio0ZQ1R
— Mr. Cricket (@keerkit) March 26, 2022
Unfollow Muffa, Johns and Bhawana also
— Confused Teayakkar (@T__Chai) March 26, 2022
Earlier, commentator Harsha Bhogle had to face public ire for staging a prank during a LIVE interview. Bhogle’s sudden disappearance from the camera during the interview had triggered speculations about his health. The commentator had to later apologise for being a part of a prank involving his safety.
