 "Batting legend Virender Sehwag had recently appeared in a promotional video for the upcoming Asia Cup showdown between India and Pakistan in Dubai. PTI/Reuters")
India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in the upcoming Asia Cup on 14 September at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the same venue where Virat Kohli had scored a match-winning century in the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year.
The showdown between the arch-rivals is set to go ahead even as the BCCI faces protests in India, with the game taking place just months after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent military conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations.
The Indo-Pak fixture , however, is already making headlines for the wrong reasons more than two weeks before the players are to take the field at what is expected to be a sold-out stadium.
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This after Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster for the continental event, released a promotional video for the upcoming tournament featuring Indian batting legend Virender Sehwag.
It also features archival footage of India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, with the former appearing to hit a winning six off the latter’s bowling in promotional video that is a minute and 35 seconds long.
Watch the video here:
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View AllAsia Cup promotional video hit with boycott threats
The promotional video, however, has been met with calls for the event to be boycotted in India, with several X users urging broadcasters Sony to have some “shame”. Here are select replies to the network’s promotional post:
Sehwag, who enjoyed quite the rivalry with Pakistani players back in his playing days especially against pace legend Shoaib Akhtar, remained confident of the Men in Blue not just vanquishing their arch-rivals in each of their meetings, but flying out of the UAE with the trophy in their possession towards the end of next month.
“We are world champions. We just won the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I am sure that we are the best team in the Asia Cup, and hopefully we will win the Asia Cup,” Sehwag said in a video posted by Sony Sports Network.
“I think we have a very good side, and Sky is leading from the front, and he’s a top player in the T20 format. I’m sure that under his captaincy, we will do well because we’ve seen in the past when Sky has taken over, we won a lot of T20 games, and I’m sure that we will win the Asia Cup also,” he added.
The Asia Cup, which returns to the T20 format this year, takes place between 9 to 28 September. India and Pakistan are placed in Group A along with Oman and UAE, while Group B comprises defending T20 champions Sri Lanka as well as Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.