Jasprit Bumrah slams Jaipur traffic police for ‘don’t cross the line’ billboard

Jasprit Bumrah slammed the Jaipur traffic police after a hoarding in the city, aimed to raise traffic awareness, took a dig at the Indian pacer’s no-ball to Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman in the ICC Champions Trophy final, eventually playing a part in the team’s humiliating 180-run defeat at the hands of the arch-rivals.

The billboard read: “Don’t cross the line. You know it can be costly”, with a picture of Bumrah overstepping when the Pakistani opener was caught behind by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. However, Fakhar was recalled after replays showed that Bumrah had bowled a no ball and the southpaw went on to score a century as Pakistan posted 338 for four in their 50 overs.

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Bumrah was not amused by the advertisement and he took to Twitter to express his displeasure.

“@traffic_jpr well done Jaipur traffic police this shows how much respect you get after giving your best for the country”, he tweeted.

He fired another tweet: “@traffic_jpr But don’t worry I won’t make fun of the mistakes which you guys make at your work .because I believe humans can make mistakes”.

Bumrah has been rested for India’s tour to West Indies, which is currently underway.

Cops to take hoarding down

The Jaipur police have decided that it will take down the hoarding in the city promoting road safety awareness with a meme on Jasprit Bumrah’s no ball against Pakistan, a day after cricketer slammed the move on twitter.

Both Bumrah’s tweets instantly went viral and garnered more than five thousand retweets, prompting the Jaipur traffic police to apologise profusely to the cricketer.

“Dear Jasprit Bumrah, our intent was not to hurt your sentiments or the sentiments of millions of cricket fans. We only intended to create more awareness about traffic rules. You are a youth icon & an inspiration for all of us,” the cops tweeted.

Following that, the tweet was also deleted from the account.

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A top official of the Jaipur police commissionerate told HT that the hoarding.

“We have decided to take down the hoarding because Bumrah has expressed his displeasure on twitter. We never wanted to hurt anyone and had felt that the younger generation will be able to connect with the meme because the defeat against Pakistan is fresh on everyone’s minds,” said the official.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Gurusharan Rav told HT that the tweet was meant in good humour and not meant as a dig at the cricketer.

“We wanted to convey this message that how crucial it is that one doesn’t get past zebra crossing during red lights. In case of a no ball, all you lose is a match but here your life is at risk. We never wanted to take a dig on Bumrah and have already apologized on twitter,” Rav told HT.