Jaipur Police apologizes to Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah for poster

Jaipur police has finally apologized to Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for poking fun at him in a billboard to draw awareness towards traffic rules. The billboard had an image of two cars well behind the zebra crossing, beside that of Jasprit Bumrah overstepping in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The caption that came along with it was, “Don’t cross the line. You know it can be costly.”

What is the story?

The context of the ‘insulting’ poster is this: Jasprit Bumrah had Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman caught behind in the final of the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy. However, the umpire stuck out his hand horizontally signalling a no-ball. The batsman, who was then on 3, went on to score a hundred, and Pakistan rode on Zaman’s century to post a daunting total of 338. India were eventually thrashed in the final by as many as 180 runs. In retrospect, many believed Bumrah’s no-ball was the turning point in the game.

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also seemed to think that Bumrah’s no-ball cost India the cup. “The crucial point of Sunday’s final at the Oval came extremely early. It was that ‘no-ball’ Jasprit Bumrah bowled that saw Fakhar Zaman being caught behind by MS Dhoni,” Bhajji wrote.

Jasprit Bumrah unhappy with the billboard

However, Jasprit Bumrah tweeted to the Jaipur Police indicating how morally incorrect it was to disrespect someone who is representing the country. The Jaipur Police has taken down the tweet which hurt the sentiments of the Indian pacer, and also tweeted to apologise to Bumrah.

“Dear @jaspritbumrah93, our intent was not to hurt your sentiments or the sentiments of millions of cricket fans, we only intended to create more awareness about traffic rules, you are a youth icon and inspiration for all of us,” the Jaipur Traffic Police tweet read.