A promotional ad for the highly anticipated India vs. Pakistan match has sparked a massive online backlash. Fans are calling for a boycott of the Asia Cup broadcaster and criticizing cricket personalities, citing a recent terror attack.
August 27, 2025: People are angry with Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster of the 2018 Asia Cup, for an ad that made the India-Pakistan match sound exciting.
The ad featured Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi, and famed batter Virender Sehwag. It was meant to get fans psyched for the game on September 14. Instead, it has caused a lot of trouble on social media.
People are angry on the internet because a terrorist attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people on April 23. After the game, a lot of fans and analysts said that all sports should be boycotted in Pakistan. This made things considerably worse in politics. People now think the commercial is nasty and doesn’t understand tone.
Fans have told people to stay away from the Asia Cup and have also directed their wrath at Sony Sports Network, the BCCI, and Virender Sehwag, who has spoken out against cricket links with Pakistan after similar events in the past. A lot of people have said bad things about the ad, and other people on social media are calling into question the patriotism of the people who made it.
The match will continue on even though a lot of people are upset. The administration has stuck to its proposal to let teams from different countries play in neutral places and put bilateral series on hold.
Sehwag said in public before the tournament that he believes in the Indian team. He said in a video from Sony Sports Network, “We are world champions.” I know we’re the greatest team in the Asia Cup because we just won the T20 World Cup. I want us to win the Asia Cup, too. He also commended Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership, saying, “Sky has led a lot of T20 games before, and we will do well under his leadership.”
Suryakumar Yadav will be in charge of the Indian team at the Asia Cup. Their first Group A game will be against the UAE on September 10. Pakistan and Oman are also in this group. People are discussing about the September 14 game versus Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. India’s last group stage game will be on September 19 against Oman.