PSL mocks India displaying photograph of Air Force hero Abhinandan Vartaman, may affect telecast in India

PSL displays photo of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman (Image credit: Twitter)

During a Pakistan Super League match between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United on February 27, an image of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Vartaman was displayed on the giant screen to mock India. The picture of an Indian Air Force hero holding a cup of tea was from 2019 when his jet crashed inside Pakistan’s territory, and he was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army. The incident took place during the strategic time-out and it may affect the telecast of PSL matches in India.

Questions in favor of Ind-Pak Cricket match:
Why mix cricket with politics?
Why hate cricket?
Why against income of Cricket?

Meanwhile, a PSL match has literally showed #AbhinandanVarthaman drinking tea!

PS: Abhinandan not only destroyed the aircraft of Pak but also their ego. pic.twitter.com/FV7RQeQxwU

— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) February 28, 2023

A video of Wing Commander Abhinandan sipping tea offered by the Pakistan Army while in custody was circulated on social media. Later, due to intense pressure from India, Pakistan had to release him. Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Ayaz Sadiq had, earlier, said in a statement that Pakistan had released Abhinandan because they were afraid that India might attack if he was not released.

Not the first time that PSL has mocked India

This is not the first time that PSL has mocked India with such disrespectful humour. Earlier, Lahore Qalandars tweeted a photograph of Mohammad Hussain enjoying a cup of tea with the caption:

“Ye tu “Tea is Fantastic” hogya".

The incident that took place last month created a stir on social media. A similar incident happened in December 2022 in an attempt to insult and mock Indian forces, when a Pakistani journalist asked Ben Stokes, “How was the tea?”

Abhinandan was captured by the Pakistani military on February 27 2019, when the MiG-21 he was flying was shot down by a Pakistani missile moments after he had shot down a Pakistani Air Force’s F-16 aircraft. During his custody in Pakistan, a video was released by Pakistan authorities of Abhinandan thanking their officials.

"I’d like to put this on record: I will not change my statement even when I go back to my country. The officers of the Pakistan Army have looked after me very well, starting from the captain who rescued me from the mob, from the soldiers, and thereafter, from the officers of the unit I was taken to."

"I would expect my army to behave in the same way. And I’m very impressed with the Pakistan Army,” the fighter jet pilot said in the clip. A Pakistani official then asked Abhinanadad if he liked the tea and he responded: “The tea is fantastic, thank you.”

Since then, Pakistanis have repeatedly made memes about the incident and mocked India, using the phrase "The tea is fantastic."