Tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday slammed the “cringeworthy” TV advertisements hyping the much-awaited World Cup match between India and Pakistan.
The advertisement war in run-up to the Sunday’s clash between the arch-rivals, has heated up with TV channels in both the countries putting out despicable ads.
Pakistan’s Jazz TV has produced an ad, which features a character who is seen mimicking Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by the Pakistani military a day after the Balakot airstrike.
The 33 seconds ad shows a model in a blue India jersey, sporting Varthaman’s trademark mustache. He is seen repeating Abhinandan’s viral remarks, “I’m sorry, I am not supposed to tell you this” to the questions asked on India’s strategy for the match.
India’s Star TV, on the other hand, has been running an ad where an Indian supporter describes himself as Pakistan’s “abbu” (father), referring to India’s domination over their rivals in the World Cup.
“Cringeworthy ads on both sides of the border, seriously guys, you don’t need to ‘hype up’ or market the match anymore specially with rubbish! it has ENOUGH attention already! It’s only cricket for God sake, and if you think it’s anymore than that then get a grip or get a life !!,” Sania wrote on her twitter handle.
Cringeworthy ads on both sides of the border 🤮 seriously guys, you don’t need to ‘hype up’ or market the match anymore specially with rubbish! it has ENOUGH attention already!It’s only cricket for God sake, and if you think it’s anymore than that then get a grip or get a life !!
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) June 12, 2019
Mirza wasn’t alone while criticising the ad campaign. There were few other voices on Twitter who agreed with the tennis star.
Host broadcasters of the @cricketworldcup should be ashamed of themselves for this ridiculous and offensive advert for the India v Pakistan match. Is it too much to expect the @ICC to take @StarSportsIndia to task ?
— Kuldip Lal (@diplal) June 11, 2019
It’s sport, not war. https://t.co/w74AgfxoQh
With PTI inputs