Mauka Mauka: Bangladesh newspaper publishes fake ad mocking Indian team

Bangladesh may have taken their celebration of the momentous series win against India, a tad too far. A Bangladeshi newspaper, Prothom Alo, printed a fake advertisement for a ‘cutter’, in which seven Indian cricketers are seen standing with their heads half-shaven. Fair to say, that’s an ad that cuts a little too deep. [caption id=“attachment_2319354” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prothom Alo has published a stinging fake advertisement, mocking India on their series defeat. Source: Prothom Alo e-paper[/caption] Incidentally, before and during India’s recently concluded tour of Bangladesh, the broadcaster Star Sports ran an advertisement campaign that referred to Bangladesh as ‘Bachchas’, which means kids in Hindi. The ad even starts with an adult gully cricketer referring to a kid as ‘Oi Bangladesh!’ ESPNcricinfo reported at the end of the second ODI which sealed Bangladesh’s series victory, the public announcement system in Dhaka belted out the “Bachcha” song. And once it ended, the announcer said: “We are not kids, we are Tigers.” The campaign, it seemed, had touched a nerve among the Bangladesh cricketing fraternity. To be fair to the broadcaster, the ad ends with the adults saying “Bachcha bachcha nahi raha yaar!” (The kids are not kids anymore, man!), something that turned out to be quite prescient, as Bangladesh went on to outplay India in the ODI series, winning 2-1. But one could understand why the ad hurt Bangladeshi sentiments and the retort in the stadium was, even for Indian fans, understandable. What is less understandable, however, is why a reputed Bangladeshi newspaper would put up a photo of Indian players with her heads shaved off. Young Bangladeshi paceman Mustafizur Rahman, who tormented the Indian players in the ODI series, is shown endorsing a cutter - a seemingly clever reference to his ‘offcutters’ - and the Indian players are holding a banner which reads, ‘We have used it. You can use it too’. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and R Ashwin are shown standing with the banner with their heads half-shaven, as Mustafizur towers over them with the cutter in his hand, as “Tiger Stationery” taunts the Indian team. While most associated with Indian cricket have been gracious in defeat - praising the home team’s fearless brand of cricket, recognising the maturity their players have shown over the past year - Prothom Alo has stretched it too far. The adverstisment, according to PTI, shows “utter disrespect to Indian cricket” and it is difficult to argue with that. But make no mistake, this adds more spice to a rivalry that is quickly emerging as the one to watch out for in the sub-continent, given the current non-existence of India-Pakistan matches. With inputs from PTI Full Translation of the ad: Tiger Stationery. Here we can manufacture Bangladesh’s Mustafiz ‘Cutter’ for you. We have used it, you should too.