5 Instances when the cricketers were criticised for featuring in controversial commercials

The current Indian captain, Virat Kohli's knack of staying on top has remained intact in this list as well.

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MS Dhoni
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MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Instagram)

Cricket has today become so much more than just a game that people play and watch throughout the world. In South-Asia, in general, and India, in particular, the sport is an emotion, a name that runs through the veins of almost everyone living in this region. Some go as far as believing cricket to be at par with religions in this part of the world. Players of this beautiful game have fans in millions, besides thousands of critics having a close eye on their personal and professional life.

Given the kind of life cricketers live, it is nearly impossible for them to stay away from the public eye while doing things that are tricky. Players feature in TV commercials quite regularly, so it comes as no surprise that people end up liking one commercial more than the other. Sometimes when the commercial has an adventurous script, it becomes a gamble for them to choose whether they would want to be a part of it or not. When the gamble pays-off, they get praised and when it doesn’t, they get mobbed and criticised brutally.

Here are some cricketers who came under-fire for featuring in controversial advertisements:

1. Virat Kohli

Love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore him. When the Indian skipper is around, you can always expect some action – good or bad. Virat Kohli has been one the hottest celebrities picked by different companies to promote their product(s). He has been in high demand for nearly a decade now, or maybe more. Right after the 30-year-old led India U19 to their World Cup triumph in 2008, he has only kept becoming bigger and bigger ever since.

Fastrack, in 2011, hired Genelia D’Souza and Virat Kohli for a series of advertisements to promote their products. The ads were mostly romantic and quite normal, to be fair to both, except the one advert from the same series, that became the butt of all jokes and criticism. The commercial was shot in an airplane, in which Kohli played the pilot, while Genelia played the air-hostess. The air-hostess, in the advert, seduces the pilot (Virat Kohli) and the duo start making love mid-air. Kohli and Fastrack were both brutally criticised for this commercial.

2. Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

The ‘Turbanator’ has been part of a lot of controversies throughout his 20-year-long cricketing career. Be it the ‘Sreesanth-slap’ controversy or the ‘Monkeygate’ one, that got really big and ugly at one point, Bhajji, as he is nicknamed, is no stranger to the slippery land of controversies. One of the controversies that got him severely under the pump, came in 2006.

The veteran spinner, being a brand ambassador for them, appeared in an advert for the liquor brand ‘Royal Stag’. What caught everyone’s attention, besides the fact that Harbhajan Singh was promoting liquor, was that he appeared in the commercial without his turban. The 38-year-old was condemned by some well-known Sikh bodies and his effigies were burnt as well. Later, after people demanded his apology for appearing in the advert in an ‘unethical’ manner, Singh apologised unconditionally.

3. Steve Smith

Steve Smith
Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Rajasthan Royals)

After the ‘sandpaper-gate’ in March last year, Australian captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft faced suspension from playing international cricket. This was an extremely heartbreaking time for the trio as they were even seen crying in public to show their regret for the blunder. Steve Smith appeared in an advertisement for a telecom company Vodafone, in which he talked about how much he was affected by the incident.

People seemed unimpressed with the former Aussie skipper for featuring in that commercial as, according to some, it was ‘disgraceful’ on Smith’s behalf to monetise controversy. People also slammed him for “using mental illness to try and flog off some phones” and raised their doubts over whether the former Aussie skipper had even learnt anything from what transpired in March 2018.

4. MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Instagram)

The former Indian captain MS Dhoni has had a fair share of trouble due to the product endorsements he does for different brands. In the year 2010, he appeared in a controversial advert for McDowell’s, a liquor brand, in which he is seen punching a Harbhajan Singh’s lookalike before mocking him with some ‘witty’ lines. It’s worth mentioning that Harbhajan was appearing in commercials for Royal Stag, a rival brand of McDowell’s, at that point in time. The commercial created a huge controversy and Dhoni had to face a lot of backlash.

In a separate incident, a few years ago, the 37-year-old was seen on the cover of a business magazine, posing as Lord Vishnu – a Hindu god, with the line “God of big deals” written at the bottom of the cover. Although, MS personally refused having posed as Lord Vishnu for the magazine, people were already infuriated to the extent that the then Indian captain was taken to the court and slammed for hurting the religious sentiments of millions of people.

5. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The current Indian captain makes his second appearance on this list of not-so-lucky people. Virat has been endorsing a lot of products in the last few years, probably more than anyone else in India. That, besides making him more popular, has also made him a ‘meme’ so to speak. He has been severely criticised for spending ‘excessive’ time doing TV commercials, by fans as well as some cricketers, both former and current.

Recently, former Aussie batsman Brad Hodge lashed out at Kohli for his appearance in a Men’s Face-wash advert also featuring his teammate Rishabh Pant. The 44-year-old tweeted, “Amazing what people do for money”, under another tweet that showed Virat and Pant in the commercial. Hodge was slammed by the Indian cricket fans for his comment, forcing him to clarify that he meant no harm and his tweet was taken out of context.

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