Star Sports, who are the official TV broadcaster for the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL 2023), faced criticism from cricket fans on social media website Twitter after they ran a 'hot or not' segment. In this new segment ahead of the Sunrisers Hyderbad (SRH) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) match, Star Sports asked the female anchors to left or right swipe the male cricketers who are currently playing in Indian Premier League 2023. The women on the show, including popular anchor Mayanti Langer, were shown photos of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Andre Russell on the big screen in the TV studio and were asked to rate the cricketers based on their looks.
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This brand new segment did not go down well with some fans who are viewers of the sports channel. They called out the broadcasters for their 'sexist' show, which aired LIVE on television sets.
Check out how fans slammed Star Sports for running a new segment that allegedly demeaned women:
i just hope virat kohli/shubman gill see this and sue star sports, they deserve it https://t.co/H1n4fqffrU
— s (@_sectumsempra18) May 18, 2023
What is this @Sanjog_G
Just reverse the situation with male anchors rating female cricket players and we will have a sexual harassment and objectification allegation ready.
Star Sports is in a deep mess https://t.co/XHcSWBEpd1
— Monica Verma (@TrulyMonica) May 18, 2023
Mayanti, Star Sports' popular cricket anchor, appeared uncomfortable when told that Shubman was much younger than her during this segment, said a report in CricTracker. Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal was also in attendance during this segment.
RCB make short work of SRH
Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen smashed an IPL ton off just 49 balls but Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis stole the limelight from him with a record opening stand in this season. Virat smashed his first hundred of IPL 2023 as RCB beat SRH by 8 wickets to collect two important points in the championship which not only takes them near the playoffs but also boosts their NRR in the league.
Earlier, Klaasen was might impressive as he smashed RCB bowlers all over the park after coming in at number 4 with SRH two wickets down for just 28 runs inside the powerplay. His 104 off 51 balls ensured SRH reached 186 for 5 in 20 overs. But Kohli and Faf played one of the best knocks of this IPL to guide RCB to a memorable win in Hyderabad.
