Model Poonam Pandey to go nude if India wins Cup

Model Poonam Pandey to go nude if India wins Cup 

Model and cricket fan Poonam Pandey has promised to strip naked in the view of thousands if India wins the Mohali semifinal against Pakistan and eventually lifts the Cup, though she is also open to a players' dressing room peep show if the Indian cricket board permits it, reports said.

Some fans pour milk on cut-outs of their favourite cricketers, some hold chain prayer meetings for divine intervention during the Indo-Pak epic semifinal clash on Wednesday at Mohali, while there are still others who vow to shed all their clothes if India lifts the World Cup trophy.

The Kingfisher Calender girl's intention to bare all is bound to pile on additional pressure on the Indian cricket team already coping with mounting crowd expectations at home, not having won the Cup since 1983.

Poonam recently started a fan page on Facebook to cheer the Indian team. She follows in the footsteps of Paraguay's Larissa Riquelme and Argentinian Luciane Salazar who promised to strip if their football teams won the FIFA World Cup.

Parents okay with Poonam stripping

Poonam, who grew up in Mumbai, says that when she first announced her decision, her parents were surprised, but later expressed their happiness. She says, "My parents, and everyone else too, are very happy with my decision. Initially, they were surprised, but after that they've supported me fully. I am getting a great response from the country. People are supporting me so much in this endeavour; everyone's asking me to go for it."

Remind her about the supposed threat from the moral police, and Poonam retorts, "I'm not committing a crime. I love cricket and I am doing this for the entire nation, and the nation's love for cricket. Every single person in this country loves cricket. I have already done many different kinds of shoots, so I thought that for the country, I should do something bigger. And I am not scared of people."

She adds that even though she used to play cricket as a youngster, she doesn't have much time now to do so, courtesy her professional commitments. She says, "I thought that so many fans internationally go nude for their teams, then why can't I? So, I decided to go nude for our amazing cricketers."

And to this end, Poonam has arranged a ticket for the finale. She has also approached the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) to allow her to visit the men in blue in the green room. She says, "We'd like to go through the BCCI to meet the boys instead of just barging in."

"Once all this gets over, I'll focus on my career. Of course, my dream is to become a very successful actress," she adds. This stunt must have surely caught Bollywood's eye!


Peta asks Poonam to strip for them
Yesterday, after reading reports that Kingfisher model Poonam Pandey has vowed to strip if India wins the World Cup, PETA chief functionary Poorva Joshipura has asked the model to star in a naked ad campaign to help animals.

Writes Joshipura, "I can see from your vow to bare all if India wins the World Cup that you are comfortable in your own skin and are a cricket fan. We at PETA are cricket fans too and, like you, believe that cricket should be fun, but there is nothing fun for the animals who are skinned to make cricket balls. Would you consider using your skin to save animals' skin and make cricket fun for everyone, animals included, by starring in the buff in an ad for PETA to urge the International Cricket Council to switch to animal-friendly synthetic balls?"
Poonam's yet to respond to this.