MakeMyTrip: Indian travel company faces backlash over ‘discounts’ for losing Pakistan fans

Advertisment was published ahead of the India vs Pakistan Cricket World Cup match

An Indian travel company has faced a backlash online after it offered discounts to fans of the losing Pakistan cricket team – before the match had even been played.

India vs Pakistan may be one of the world’s great sporting rivalries but Saturday’s match was a deeply one-sided affair, with Cricket World Cup hosts India securing a comfortable seven-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

But MakeMyTrip wasn’t to know that when it ran an advert in Saturday morning’s Ahmedabad Times offering discounts on hotel bookings based on the scale of Pakistan’s expected defeat.

The tongue-in-cheek advert claimed to be following in the “Indian tradition” of welcoming guests, saying: “Tough times bring friends together and we want to take this opportunity to build a better bond with you.”

It shows Pakistan fans in green sat around a smashed TV screen with the words “Boyz Playz Well” on a poster, a reference to a popular meme used to disparage Pakistan’s cricketing ability loosely based on a post-match quote from former capain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Fans said the tone of the advert “wasn’t cricket”. The company has yet to respond to the online criticism, and did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Independent.

“Such a horrible ad. We are not a sporting nation! A sparring nation,” wrote one user on X.

Another X user posted: “Horrible. As an Indian, I want to apologise to every Pakistani person for this @makemytrip ad. This does not represent Indian values. It only represents the worst among us.”

“Goodbye MakeMyTrip. This is NOT Cricket,” wrote another user on X.

In the run-up to the high-profile game, 5-star hotels in Ahmedabad hiked up their tariffs by more than 150 per cent and flight prices had also skyrocketed.

Amid the struggle to find accommodation in the city, one hospital manager told Reuters that patients had deliberately booked in for check-ups including overnight stays so they could sleep there after watching the game.

But visa issues for Pakistan fans and journalists meant that in practice very few were able to travel to Ahmedabad in time for Saturday’s match, which ended up being played out in front of a sea of blue at the 132,000-seater stadium.

One rival travel company has siezed upon the backlash against MakeMyTrip to offer its own discount available to all.

Without mentioning its rival by name, Cleartrip posted an offer stating: “It’s one thing to celebrate your win. But to celebrate someone’s loss, that’s not sportsmanship. Let’s go places together and give #EqualMaukaToAll with a flat 30% off on Hotels.”

India’s next match after the victory on Saturday with be against Bangladesh in Pune, Maharashtra. Pakistan will face Australia on Friday in Bengaluru.