IPL 2020: Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer take part in 'Break the Beard' challenge ahead of Qualifier 1

The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be up against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 1st Qualifier of the ongoing 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on November 5, Thursday. A lot will be at stake as the winning team will directly reach the finals while the losing team will face the winner of the eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on November 8.

Just like the previous editions, the Mumbai-based outfit stamped their authority in the 2020 edition of the cash-rich league. MI finished at the top of the points tally with 9 wins and 5 loses. Though the team ended it’s league stage with a defeat against SRH by 10 wickets, it won’t matter much as they had rested the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Trent Boult.

Capitals, on the other hand, had a stunning start to their campaign in IPL 2020 as they won five out of their first seven fixtures and were deemed as the favourites. They stumbled a bit in the second-half of the marquee event, losing back-to-back four games but a victory against Bangalore in their last league match ensured that they finished at Top 2 with 16 points under their belt.

Meanwhile, before the two face each other on the match field, Mumbai pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah took to his official Instagram handle to challenge the Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer for ‘Break the Beard‘ competition. Bumrah himself took the challenge and posted a video revealing his new look ahead of the crucial game.

Jasprit Bumrah challenges Shreyas Iyer

Bumrah captioned the video as, “Me and the #Paltan are ready! Where you at Delhi? @shreyas41 See you on the field.”

Shreyas was not the one to step back and quickly shaved off his beard in response to the challenge given by the Indian seamer. Sharing a video of his new look, Shreyas wrote, “#DC has arrived #BreakTheBeard! Swagat ni karoge hamara? @jaspritb1 May the best man win.”

The right-arm fast bowler from Ahmedabad is shining in the T20 extravaganza as he has picked 23 wickets in 13 games while maintaining an economy of 6.96 and average of 15.73. Bumrah is placed at the second position in the race of Purple Cap, just behind Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada who is leading the list with 25 scalps.

Iyer, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to put his best foot forward in the tournament as he managed to collect 421 runs in 14 games at an average of 32.38 and strike rate of 122.74.