Sony Sports Network, the official broadcast partner of the upcoming Asia Cup, has come under the scanner after it released an India vs Pakistan promotional advertisement. The promo, featuring India captain Suryakumar Yadav, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi, and legendary batter Virender Sehwag, was aimed at generating excitement ahead of the high-octane clash between the two arch-rivals on September 14. However, the promo has sparked a storm on social media, with fans sharing strong reactions to express their displeasure.
Calls have been made to boycott the Asia Cup by fans and experts in the backdrop of the April 23 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
Similarly, fans have now raised their voice to boycott Sony Sports Network, while also criticising the BCCI and Sehwag for promoting the India vs Pakistan clash.
Here’s how the internet reacted:
We will Boycott pic.twitter.com/FCQ7ZcqaHU
— Surenddra verma (@mrsurendra) August 25, 2025
Boycott asia cup
Boycott sonyliv pic.twitter.com/FzwTEQvIE2
— Rajat sharma (@rajatzzzzz) August 25, 2025
Going to boycott Asia Cup. To hell with you and @BCCI
— Varun Bahl (@bahl65) August 26, 2025
Shame on you Sony sports !
— ExtraSpiceAni (@ShrivastavAni) August 26, 2025
#BoycottAsiaCup we can’t forget Pahalgam like you
— Manoj (@Nixachar) August 25, 2025
Ahead of the tournament, Sehwag remains hopeful about India’s chances of standing triumphant in the Asia Cup.
“We are world champions. We just won the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I am sure that we are the best team in the Asia Cup, and hopefully we will win the Asia Cup,” Sehwag said in a video posted by the Sony Sports Network on social media.
“I think we have a very good side, and Sky is leading from the front, and he’s a top player in the T20 format. I’m sure that under his captaincy, we will do well because we’ve seen in the past when Sky has taken over, we won a lot of T20 games, and I’m sure that we will win the Asia Cup also,” he added.
India is placed in Group A alongside the UAE, Pakistan and Oman. India will begin its campaign on September 10 against the UAE. On September 14, India will square off against its arch-rival Pakistan and finish the group stage campaign against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
India squad for the Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
(With ANI Inputs)
