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TVS may bowl Shoaib out: The Indian Express
New Delhi, Apr 20: TVS Motor Company may reconsider its decision to hire Pakistan`s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar as a model in its advertisement campaign if the Pakistan Cricket Board`s (PCB) investigation finds him guilty of feigning an injury to avoid bowling on the third day of the last cricket Test match at Rawalpindi.
New Delhi, Apr 20: TVS Motor Company may reconsider its decision to hire Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar as a model in its advertisement campaign if the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) investigation finds him guilty of feigning an injury to avoid bowling on the third day of the last cricket Test match at Rawalpindi.
TVS maintains that Akhtar is not being hired as a brand ambassador — as mentioned in some media reports — but as a model for a commercial shoot, which will also feature Australian pacer Brett Lee.
“We are very clear who our brand ambassador is, and that is Sachin Tendulkar,” a TVS spokesperson told FE. Tendulkar endorses the TVS Victor series, though the spokesperson declined to give details of the product for which Lee and Akhtar would feature in the ad campaign.
He added, “We in South Asia relish in hanging victims. I don’t think anything will come of this investigation. However, if he is convicted of what he has been accused of, our plans could change. We have to wait to see what happens with the investigation, though we feel sure nothing will come of it.” The TVS spokesperson said he was confident it did not mean Akhtar was feigning injury. “It takes a much greater effort to bowl, than to bat, where you just have to connect a fast moving ball to get it to the boundary.”
On the rationale of hiring a cricketer from an arch-rival team, notwithstanding the apparent goodwill that pervaded the Indo-Pak cricket series, the TVS spokesperson said, “As TVS emerges into international markets, and becomes a truly international player, these things cease to matter. In our eyes, all players are equal. What is wrong in recognising a player for his speed and power?”
PCB has ordered an inquiry into Akhtar’s injury. Doubts about his injury emerged after the bowler came out to bat in Pakistan’s second innings and thrashed 28 runs in 14 balls, all in boundaries (4 fours and 2 sixes).
“We are very clear who our brand ambassador is, and that is Sachin Tendulkar,” a TVS spokesperson told FE. Tendulkar endorses the TVS Victor series, though the spokesperson declined to give details of the product for which Lee and Akhtar would feature in the ad campaign.
He added, “We in South Asia relish in hanging victims. I don’t think anything will come of this investigation. However, if he is convicted of what he has been accused of, our plans could change. We have to wait to see what happens with the investigation, though we feel sure nothing will come of it.” The TVS spokesperson said he was confident it did not mean Akhtar was feigning injury. “It takes a much greater effort to bowl, than to bat, where you just have to connect a fast moving ball to get it to the boundary.”
On the rationale of hiring a cricketer from an arch-rival team, notwithstanding the apparent goodwill that pervaded the Indo-Pak cricket series, the TVS spokesperson said, “As TVS emerges into international markets, and becomes a truly international player, these things cease to matter. In our eyes, all players are equal. What is wrong in recognising a player for his speed and power?”
PCB has ordered an inquiry into Akhtar’s injury. Doubts about his injury emerged after the bowler came out to bat in Pakistan’s second innings and thrashed 28 runs in 14 balls, all in boundaries (4 fours and 2 sixes).