A fortnight of camaraderie and cringe at the Cup

Along with the confidence that must be coursing through the veins of the South African team and the rude but timely shakeup for hosts India, the best thing to have come out of the Sunday night T20 World Cup encounter was the disappearance of the cringe cupcake promo for the match on the ICC’s host broadcaster, Star Sports.

- Sharda Ugra

Post-match, the Indian rights holders Jiostar quickly switched to IPL promos while their social media handle used a car accident film clip to describe Indian fans’ Sunday evening. At this World Cup, some of the cricket promos and social media content have only ended up embarrassing one of the two hosts’ cricket and their team. And no, we're not talking about Sri Lanka.

But the World Cup is also the event where voices outside the usual din of Indian cricket rah-rah can be heard.

Last Tuesday, a letter signed by 14 international captains asking for one of their own, Imran Khan, to be treated with “dignity and basic human consideration” was released.

Greg Chappell, who was the brains behind the letter, told the Cricket et Al podcast it “must make the Pakistan government uncomfortable that this group from all around the world is making some noise and bringing some focus to a situation that is unacceptable.”

As far as is known, the Pakistan government had not responded to the cricketers but on Sunday, Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga also posted his support for Imran. When the letter first appeared our minds and hearts, subjected to 24-7-365 cringe social media, promos and talk-ups, took a nano second more, an extra beat to recognise the harmonious sound of a community in chorus. Which is what it was.