'Don't Lose To Pakistan ..'- Shikhar Dhawan's Charged Message Forces Star Sports To Delete Asia Cup Promo
Pakistan and India will clash in Asia Cup 2023 [Source: Twitter]
Out-of-favour Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan will be making his commentary debut in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 for official broadcasters. Poor performances in One-Day Internationals (ODI) saw Dhawan shift down the pecking order, with youngsters like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ishan Kishan climbing the ladder.
Official broadcaster Star Sports unveiled the 37-year-old as part of the expert panel for the marquee event by dropping a 56-second promo featuring him on Monday.
The tweet was captioned, "Witness the passion and intensity of mother of all rivalries, India vs Pakistan through the eyes of @SDhawan25 and look what he has to say!"
However, they deleted it later, as Dhawan's message for team India not to lose against Pakistan forced them to do so.
In the promo, Dhawan could be heard talking about his experiences against Pakistan and even restated the thought of not losing against arch-rivals, irrespective of the competition.
'Don't Lose To Pakistan'- Shikhar Dhawan
“It has always been the case of 'Whether or not you win the World Cup, don't lose to Pakistan' (laughs). But winning the World Cup is also important and by god's grace hopefully we will. There's definitely excitement (while playing Pakistan) but also a lot of pressure. There's definitely a satisfying feeling playing against them when the match ends. Whenever I have played Pakistan, we have won mostly. The intensity on the field is also high, but there's also some light chat with them.”
The upcoming Asia Cup 2023 will be played across Pakistan and Sri Lanka, starting August 30. Hosts Pakistan are clubbed alongside India and Nepal in Group A, while co-hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are placed in Group B.
India's tournament kick-off against Pakistan on September 2.
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