IPL 2020: Mumbai-Chennai rivalry gets intense, Kolhapur fans fight it out in a poster war

Despite the IPL 2020 being moved to the UAE, Indian fans have not lost their zeal and enthusiasm in celebrating the grand festival back home. The tournament got underway on Saturday with arch-rivals Mumbai and Chennai locking horns in Abu Dhabi. As MS Dhoni's men faced Rohit Sharma's champions, their fan armies back home battled it out as well just as the race to title begun. 

Fans of the teams in Maharashtra's Kolhapur upped the rivalry, as they fought it out through a poster war. While it is alleged that Chennai fans put up a poster of Thala Dhoni first, the Mumbai fans weren't left behind as they put up a poster of their skipper - Rohit Sharma - just next to the former Indian skipper's poster. MS Dhoni's poster carried the caption of 'Saaheb' (sic.) which is equivalent to Thala in the Marathi language. 

However, Mumbai fans took a dig at their counterparts as they put up Rohit Sharma's poster with the caption - "Don't be jealous, equalize" (sic.) The Mumbai army was referring to the record of winning the IPL. Mumbai has a better record having clinched the silverware 4 times while Chennai has won it 3 times. However, it was the MS Dhoni-led side that trumped Mumbai in the season opener on Saturday. 

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Chennai defeat Mumbai in season opener 

The MS Dhoni-led Chennai beat Rohit Sharma's Mumbai in the curtain-raiser of the Dream11 IPL 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After being put into bat, by Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the four-time champions got off to a brisk start. Faf du Plessis took three outstanding catches in the deep and brought Chennai right back into the contest. Even the Chennai bowlers came back well at the backend of the innings as they accounted for Mumbai's big-hitters and the title-holders were restricted to 162/3 in their 20 overs. 

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In reply, the former champions were off to a disastrous start as they lost the wickets of openers. However, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis had other ideas as they ensured that the 'Yellow Army' did not face any further hiccups in their run chase. Faf made the four-time champions pay for their sloppy fielding by scoring his 13th IPL half-century and helping Chennai get past the finish line by five wickets with four balls to spare.

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