Amid soaring fuel prices, cricketer gets five litres of petrol as Man of the Match award

As fuel prices continue to touch a new high every day, a bizarre sight of a cricketer being rewarded with five litres of petrol which has come to light has now gone viral. Leading his team to victory in a local cricket tournament in Bhopal on Sunday, a cricketer was awarded 5 litres of petrol as he was declared the Man of the Match. Playing in the 'Manoj Shukla Premier League', the picture of the cricketer receiving a can of petrol has taken Twitter by storm.

The viral sight also found a mention in 'Voice of Cricket' Harsha Bhogle's tweets as the commentator remarked that it is actually a 'useful prize'. According to reports, the cricket tournament was organized by Congress and giving away petrol as an award was a gimmick by the party to protest against the rising fuel prices.

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Here's how netizens have reacted to the event: 

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Petrol and diesel prices across all Indian states mostly remained to be unaltered for the fifth consecutive day. There has been no fluctuation in the rates of fuel that were on a constant high by a rupee or two until last week. 

Finance Ministry starts discussion on cutting cost

As the demand for reducing taxes on petrol and diesel escalates, the Union Finance Ministry has started to discuss the burning issue which has created a hole in consumers' pockets, as per sources. "The government is discussing as to what extent the taxes could be cut, and that too, without having much stress on either the Centre or the state government. The discussion has been started among the Ministry officials on how to bring the Centre and government on a platform where relief from high fuel prices can be given to the common man," sources told ANI.

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They also informed that the Nirmala Sitharaman Ministry is looking at all kinds of possible options to handle the imminent crisis and is trying to bring states and the Centre to one platform to ensure an expeditious reduction of the prices. On February 25, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das highlighted how high fuel prices not only impact cars and bike users but also manufacturing, transportation, and other aspects as well. While addressing the 185th Foundation Day Celebration of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he aired his views on how diesel and petrol prices have an impact on the cost side.

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