The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) players on Friday boarded a flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), which begins on September 19. To the delight of all RCB fans, the Bengaluru-based franchise posted a group photo on their various social media accounts, with their players' faces covered with masks and face shields, making it hard to distinguish them. Still some of the notable players that were recognisable in the picture were leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel and fast bowlers Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini.
"UAE calling! AirplaneFlag of United Arab Emirates. The Royal Challengers are all set to take-off! Drop a Red heart if you're happy to see the RCB fam together again! #PlayBold #TravelDays #IPL2020," RCB captioned the picture on Twitter.
It was hard to ascertain if RCB skipper Virat Kohli was also on that flight and fans also flooded the post enquiring about the same.
Teams like Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders have already reached the UAE on Thursday, while defending champions Mumbai Indians' contingent boarded the flight on Friday.
MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings are also expected to catch their flight on Friday. As per a PTI report, CSK off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will not be boarding the flight on Friday due to some personal reasons. He is expected to join his teammates within next two weeks.
Virat Kohli, who has led Indian team to many memorable wins across globe, has been unable to guide RCB to IPL title so far. The entire tournament being hosted in the UAE has negated home team advantage that some teams made full use of all these years and RCB fans would hope that it works in their favour and they get to see their team lifting their maiden IPL trophy.