IPL 2020 in UAE: Oh pants! Mumbai Indians’ match-winner Quinton De Kock causes mayhem in Abu Dhabi

Dubai: When Quinton de Kock hammered a match-winning 78 in Mumbai India’s eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi the Indian Premier League on Friday, he drove his fans crazy.

Well, not all of them and certainly not one of the world’s leading fast-food giants.

What many people may not have noticed was that de Kock was not wearing Mumbai’s officially sanctioned gear and that he in fact came out to bat wearing his practice pants.

So what’s wrong with that you may say? In a world of lucrative and high-level sponsorship, the four-time kings and defending champions command a premium in financial capital with every inch of their cricket gear sporting a sponsor’s logo. De Kock’s trousers, just like all the other members of the team, normally feature logos of patrons Burger King and William Lawson.

But not on this occasion, which team coach Mahela Jayawardene, did not take lightly.

In a video released by the Mumbai Indians on Twitter, the former Sri Lanka batsman is seen reprimanding his star player for the fashion faux pas.

“Apart from Quinny going and batting with his practice pants, everything else was pretty decent,” he is seen saying urging a post-match pep talk which had most of the players holding their sides in laughter. “Ok, so don’t do that again, Jayawardene tells de Kock, “because the marketing guys are going nuts, people went nuts as well. If it works, it works but we’ll (have to) sort something else (out).”

Considering de Kock held his bat throughout the innings for Mumbai, the sponsors would have generated significant viewership, which they unfortunately, were deprived of.

At some point in his inning De Kock noticed that he had on the wrong trousers and had to lower his jersey to hide the orange strip running down the side of his practice pants. Mumbai lead the points table with 12 points and are ahead of Delhi Capitals on net run rate.