5 times when Indian broadcasters underestimated the opponents with weird ads

Through these ads, on multiple occasions, it has seemed like India underestimates their oppositions.

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Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag. (Photo Source: Twitter)

India has become a powerhouse in world cricket. Their performances on the field have been brilliant and they are among one of the most successful teams in this century. In fact, ever since Sourav Ganguly took over as captain, India became a powerful unit.

Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni and now, Virat Kohli are carrying that forward. They’ve built a legacy and everywhere they play, they attract huge crowds as well. Moreover, with the advent of television and digitalization, TRPs for particular series are brought up by eye-catchy ads. Broadcasters hype up the series and showcase India on top more often than not.

Through these ads, on multiple occasions, it has seemed like India underestimates their oppositions. Hence, they’ve paid the price for it as well. Thus, here we look at five such times when India underestimated their opponents and had weird ads before the series.

1. Against Australia at home – 2019

In the 2018-19 Australian summer, India had a very successful tour. While they managed to draw the T20I series 1-1, they registered a historic, first-ever Test series win in Australia (2-1). The ‘Men in Blue’ also won their first bilateral ODI series down under.

Australia came to India for a limited-overs series (two T20Is and five ODIs) and the promo was a very interesting one. Tim Paine sledged Rishabh Pant in the Test series and had asked the Indian stumper if he babysits. Star Sports, the official broadcaster for India’s home matches converted that into an ad. Virender Sehwag was seen with a slew of babies, mocking the Australian Test captain’s request.

Moreover, Australia continued to miss the stalwarts, Steve Smith and David Warner. Hence, India exhibited a touch of arrogance and overconfidence through the ad but paid the price. Australia beat India in a couple of very close games in the T20Is before turning around the ODI series from a 0-2 trail to win the series 3-2.

2. Against Bangladesh – 2019 T20I series

The India-Bangladesh is a budding and an underrated rivalry in international cricket. Over the last few years, the two Asian teams have had some very tight and tense games. Moreover, these have mainly come in multi-nation tournaments.

Before the series, Bangladesh had never beaten India in a T20I ever. Out of eight attempts, they did come close on a couple of occasions but failed to get over the line. Hence, in the series promo, Star Sports didn’t miss out to convey that stat. Virender Sehwag and a ball were seen playing a famous Indian game ‘Chidiya Udi’. In that Sehwag makes a mistake by falsely making Virat Kohli fly which sends the ball into a tizzy.

At that moment, the former India international says, the ball (who acts as a Bangladeshi fan) is already jumping around and what would happen if Bangladesh win a T20I for the first time. Moreover, the tag line for this series was, “Yaha Harna Mana hai!

That’s exactly what happened. While the celebrations weren’t over the top from Bangladesh but they did make history as they beat India for the first time ever in T20I cricket.

3. Against Pakistan – Champions Trophy 2017 final

The 2017 Champions Trophy was Virat Kohli’s first ICC tournament as captain. India started with a bang when they thrashed Pakistan in the first game. However, they hit a roadblock in the form of Sri Lanka in the next game before winning a must-win game against South Africa to reach the semi-final. In the knockout, the ‘Men in Blue’ faced Bangladesh and beat them convincingly.

In the final, it was yet again India vs Pakistan. Given, India’s record over Pakistan in ICC tournaments, a win was almost certain. Promos all around the internet spoke about how India will show ‘baap baap hota hai’ (the father is always superior) as the match fell on Father’s Day as well. Even Star Sports continued their promo of #CupKaMoh which means love for the cup.

However, it all turned upside down for India. They crashed to a huge defeat as Pakistan lifted their first 50-over ICC Champions Trophy title. It gave the Pakistani fans to give it back to the Indians and troll them for being overconfident.

4. South Africa Test series – 2018

India have never won a Test series in South Africa. They’ve come close on a couple of occasions but have never won a Test series in the Rainbow Nation. Their best result was 1-1 in 2010-11 under MS Dhoni. However, apart from that, they’ve won just one other Test match which came in 2006.

Hence, when India were to tour South Africa in early 2018, it was a chance to rewrite history. It seemed like they had the team and the ability to topple the South Africans. Sony who was the official broadcaster for the series had a tagline as ‘25 saal ka badla’ which means the revenge of 25 years. They wanted to communicate that India might make history and beat the Proteas.

However, that didn’t happen as the hosts took the Test series 2-1. There is no doubt that India played some excellent cricket but South Africa seized on big opportunities much better. Hence, they won the first two Tests before India pulled one back in the third Test at Johannesburg.

5. 2015 World Cup

After 28 years, India lifted the ICC World Cup in 2011. They became the first team to do so at home as well. They even won the 2013 Champions Trophy and reached the final of the 2014 World T20. Hence, they made it a habit of doing well in ICC tournaments.

However, the MS Dhoni-led side wasn’t in the best of form going into the 2015 World Cup. They couldn’t win a single in the tri-series involving Australia and England in the lead-up to the megaevent. But, the promo for the Indian team made by Star Sports was a very interesting one. The tag line said, ‘We won’t give it back.’. The ad contained most top Indian players where they try to show that they will give back everything except the World Cup.

The Indian team had a wonderful run in the group stages where they won all their games. They also beat Bangladesh in the quarter-finals. However, they stumbled at the semi-final mark against hosts Australia and bowed out of the tournament.

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