IPL 2023: Star Sports' brand new segment stirs hornet's nest

The official TV broadcaster of the ongoing Indian Premier League, Star Sports, on Thursday, May 18, played a hot or not game on live television with their female anchors choosing if a particular male cricketer is hot or not. During the segment, the anchors were made to choose between players like Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Andre Russell and judge them whether they are hot enough to right-swipe. This eventually was heavily criticised on various social media platforms for its nature of objectifying men.

I am NEGAN@IamNEGA62524296

Is this a Cricket related show or what....Starsports u are disgrace #ViratKohli #SRHvRCB

07:04 PM · May 18, 2023

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Monica Verma@TrulyMonica

What is this @Sanjog_G Just reverse the situation with male anchors rating female cricket players and we will have a sexual harassment and objectification allegation ready. Star Sports is in a deep mess twitter.com/gurkiratsgill/…

08:15 PM · May 18, 2023

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s@_sectumsempra18

i just hope virat kohli/shubman gill see this and sue star sports, they deserve it twitter.com/gurkiratsgill/…

07:08 PM · May 18, 2023

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Notably, one of the senior anchors in the form of Mayanti Langer, was clearly spotted uncomfortably when asked about Gill as the cricketer is much younger than her. Others stated the same as well as they moved on to Andre Russell next, talking about his abs and muscles.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad once again decided to bench Umran Malik, even when they are currently out of the playoffs race. Head coach Brian Lara previously spoke about his form not being good in the ongoing IPL 2023 season but with nothing to lose in the remaining two matches, it was expected that Umran will make his return back to the playing XI. However, that didn’t happen against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The same can be said about Mayank Agarwal. The team spent a lot of money on bringing him into the team, but the cricketer only played nine matches, scoring 187 runs in the process. With that, his future in the franchise looks uncertain at the moment, as the team can release him ahead of the next edition.

When it comes to the Faf du Plessis-led side, the team will be desperate to get a win under their belt and move an inch closer to the playoffs. Currently, they are fifth on the IPL points table but with a win, they can very well move to number four on the table. However, for that, their top order will once again have to get the job done.