"He didn't want RCB to qualify!" - Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel engage in hilarious banter ahead of IPL 2022 Playoffs

Retired Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag claimed that his former teammate Parthiv Patel didn't want Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to qualify for the playoffs. Patel had received a bit of a stick on social media after apparently claiming that Bengaluru wouldn't qualify for the playoffs.

But the 37-year-old was at the Wankhede Stadium supporting Mumbai Indians (MI) during their encounter against the Delhi Capitals (DC), despite knowing that the Royal Challengers would qualify if MI won.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag pulled Patel's leg during with a light-hearted piece of banter by saying that the former wicketkeeper-batter didn't want MI to win so that Bengaluru would qualify for the playoffs. He said:

"If it had been in his (Patel's) hands, he wouldn't have gone to the stadium. Because he didn't want RCB to qualify! (laughs). He just went there because there were orders sent to him that they want to question him about something."

"I had RCB in the second position from the beginning"- Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel claimed that he received unnecessary criticism when the Royal Challengers qualified for the IPL 2022 playoffs. The 37-year-old stated that Bengaluru were always on his list for the playoffs spots and he went to the stadium to support both his former teams.

On this, Patel said:

"You can check my reels of this season. I had RCB in the second position from the beginning. There are so many wrong blames put on me that I don't want them to reach playoffs. I had even posted on Instagram with an MI jersey but also with a red mask supporting them."

Sehwag believes Bengaluru didn't play poor cricket to get knocked out in the Eliminator for two years in a row. He just felt that the opposition used to get a bit of confidence when they played the Royal Challengers. He added:

"RCB don't play badly in the Eleminator. They try their best but the opposition's self confidence increases immensely when they come to know that they are playing them."

Faf du Plessis and his men will now need to win three games on the bounce to finally win that elusive maiden IPL title.