The promo video for the 2023 World Cup, scheduled to take place in India in October-November, was released to much fanfare last month by the ICC. While the video featured memorable moments from the previous World Cups over the years, it also had a monolouge from Shah Rukh Khan, India's movie superstar. Khan also appeared at the end of the video beside the World Cup trophy, currently held by England.
The two-minute-and-13 seconds long clip included the iconic six from MS Dhoni whichl helped India to a second World Cup win in 2011. In addition to other historic moments, the video also featued a star-studded line-up of Indian cricketers in Jemimah Rodrigues, Dinesh Karthik, and Shubman Gill, and a number of guest appearances from some of the greats - Eoin Morgan, the 2019 World Cup-winning England captain, former South Africa player Jonty Rhodes, and Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
Also read: 'India won in 2011 but…': Wasim Akram's reality check to Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid ahead of World Cup 2023
Soon after the release of the video, however, Pakistan fans expressed their disappointment on how the team was featured in the promo. While there was no video of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup triumph, Babar Azam – the current Pakistan skipper currently ranked no.1 – also remained absent. In fact, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar expressed his anger at the omissions, calling it a “joke.”
{{/usCountry}}Soon after the release of the video, however, Pakistan fans expressed their disappointment on how the team was featured in the promo. While there was no video of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup triumph, Babar Azam – the current Pakistan skipper currently ranked no.1 – also remained absent. In fact, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar expressed his anger at the omissions, calling it a “joke.”
{{/usCountry}}And the latest from Pakistan's cricket fraternity to call out the omission is former captain Salman Butt. In fact, Butt made some rather explosive claims as he was asked about the promo on Nadir Ali Podcast.
“I'm not surprised at all. What do you expect from them? Why do you expect good things from them? What good have they done? And why do you hurt yourself over such things? At the end, what happens is these things get discussed widely. The guy who does it all just thinks, it hit the right spot. We shouldn't give them value, and those things shouldn't disturb us,” said Butt.
Weeks after the promo was launched, though, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed that there will be changes to the original schedule for the World Cup, following reservations from certain full-member sides over lack of gaps between their games. The revamped schedule is likely to be released this week.