The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings launched a promotional banner for the extremely anticipated Pakistan-India conflict in Asia Cup 2025 with out the Pakistan group’s emblem and hashtag, drawing criticism from cricket followers and followers.
The arch-rivals will face one another on Sunday on the iconic Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium.
The promotional banner featured Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and India’s cricket emblem, however omitted Pakistan, whereas the accompanying hashtag talked about India solely.
This exclusion sparked widespread criticism from followers and cricket followers, who accused the franchise of being politically motivated and disrespectful in direction of Pakistan.
Some followers claimed there was “concern in even mentioning Pakistan” earlier than the sport, whereas others argued: “Why settle for defeat earlier than the match? It’s not like the sport is in opposition to an invisible group, so why the concern?”
Whereas a couple of followers declare that India’s match is in opposition to John Cena, who makes use of the catchphrase ‘You Can’t See Me.’ A number of went additional, remarking that such strikes solely humiliate these behind them.
This isn’t the primary time controversy has marred an India-Pakistan conflict.
Lately, through the second version of the World Championship of Legends (WCL), the India Champions refused to play Pakistan not solely within the league-stage fixture but additionally within the semifinal, citing heightened tensions between the 2 nations.
Many former Indian cricketers have additionally repeatedly urged boycotts of matches in opposition to Pakistan throughout varied boards.
On the cricketing entrance, India enters Sunday’s contest after a commanding nine-wicket win over the UAE of their opening sport.
The Males in Blue bowled out the hosts for simply 57 runs and chased the goal inside 4.3 overs. Pakistan, in the meantime, will start its marketing campaign in opposition to Oman on the similar venue on Friday.
Traditionally, India and Pakistan have clashed 13 occasions in T20 internationals, with India main the head-to-head report 10–3.
Their most up-to-date encounter got here on February 23 through the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai, the place India secured a six-wicket victory.
Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
