World Cup 2019: Harsha Bhogle not happy with the advertisement war before India-Pakistan match

The India and Pakistan fans are all set to witness the blockbuster match between the arch-rivals as they set to face-off in Old Trafford on Sunday. Especially after what has transpired between the two nations this year, more than cricket is on the line on Sunday.

In February, the Indian nation was rocked when more than 40 CRPF jawans were martyred in a terrorist incident in Pulwama, Srinagar. The citizens of the nation were calling for retaliation which came sometime after an Indian Air Force crossed the LOC and destroyed the camp of terrorists in Balakot.

Pakistan replied in kind, by sending their own fighter jets into India and IAF Wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, whose plane crashed across the border was caught by their forces and amidst high drama over the next few days when videos of his capture and interrogation were circulated, he returned India with pride. However, these incidents have been used by TV channels to promote the blockbuster encounter.

Harsha Bhogle disappointed by petty advertisements put on air

Harsha Bhogle, popular Indian commentator had to take to Twitter to show his disappointment over the TV ads that have been aired over the last few days to build hype for the India vs Pakistan encounter. Star Sports, the official ICC broadcasting partner of the World Cup, aired an ad in which the Indian team fan uses the Father’s Day reference which also falls on June 16.

In its reply, a Pakistani channel used an actor to impersonate Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and enacted his interrogation video as a parody to build support for the Men in Green. Such kind of promotion has not gone well with many celebrities with Sania Mirza, tennis star and wife of Pakistani player Shoaib Malik, criticizing how the game of cricket has been portrayed in the build-up to the match.

Harsha Bhogle tweeted and mentioned, “I am disappointed by the pettiness and jingoism that  #INDvsPAK at cricket is being reduced to. Hopefully, it will be over after tomorrow’s game.”

Talking about the upcoming match between the two countries, Pakistan is under pressure with the fact that they have never been able to defeat India in the mega event in the past six meetings and while India is coming into this match with a victory over Australia, Men in Green lost to Australia in their last meeting thanks to batting failure.