Star Sports Deletes 'Hardik Raj' Tweet, But Shares Same Promo With New Caption

Star Sports, the official broadcasters of India vs Sri Lanka series has deleted the new promo which had a caption ‘Hardik Raj.’ They have now tweeted the same promo, albeit with a different take.

“Hardik Pandya is ready to kick start the new year with a bang against the new Asian T20 champions, said the tweet which had the promo in Hardik Pandya as lead. They didn’t make any changes to the promo which shows Dasun Shanaka as Sri Lanka skipper with Pandya being the counterpart.

This comes on the back of PTI report which said that Hardik Pandya will lead the side against 3-match series against Sri Lanka which will be full of T20I specialists. This also meant that the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul may face the axe. Reaffirming the same, a new Star Sports trailer for the series has created quite a furor.

“Hardik Pandya is ready to kick-start the New Year with a bang against the Asian T20I Champions, ????????!#BelieveInBlue & get ready to witness some ???? action from this new #TeamIndia under the Hardik ‘Raj’,” the caption had said and the video shows Pandya in the lead. They even ended that with the poster which had Dasun Shanaka as Sri Lanka skipper and Hardik Pandya as his counterpart.

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Although India have played their last international game of the year, there is more action awaited for the team when they kick off their build-up to 2024 T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies with a white-ball series against Sri Lanka. The team will take them on in 3 match T20Is as the well same number of ODIs which begins on January 3 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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This created quite a furor and fans started to wonder did Star Sports out foxed the BCCI in making the decision public. The broadcasters had deleted the tweet but posted it again on their social media accounts.

India has a busy home season ahead with teams like Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia touring the country. The first match of the season will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on January 3 with the ODIs kicking off on January 12. Earlier, news agency PTI had reported how Rohit Sharma’s inability to recover from the injury meant that he will not lead the side. This means a new skipper in Hardik Pandya will be deployed. Moreover, the likes of KL Rahul may also not make it, especially after his string of poor scores. One source even confirmed that ‘his days are numbered.’

Earlier several media outlets had reported how the Baroda all-rounder is tipped to take over the reins of the side in the build-up to 2024 T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies.

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