5 Instances when the cricketers were criticised for featuring in controversial commercials

2. Harbhajan Singh

The ‘Turbanator’ has been part of a lot of controversies throughout his 20-year-long cricketing career. Be it the ‘Sreesanth-slap’ controversy or the ‘Monkeygate’ one, that got really big and ugly at one point, Bhajji, as he is nicknamed, is no stranger to the slippery land of controversies. One of the controversies that got him severely under the pump, came in 2006.

The veteran spinner, being a brand ambassador for them, appeared in an advert for the liquor brand ‘Royal Stag’. What caught everyone’s attention, besides the fact that Harbhajan Singh was promoting liquor, was that he appeared in the commercial without his turban. The 38-year-old was condemned by some well-known Sikh bodies and his effigies were burnt as well. Later, after people demanded his apology for appearing in the advert in an ‘unethical’ manner, Singh apologised unconditionally.