Indian model vows to strip for World Cup win

NEW DELHI, March 30, 2011 (AFP) – Women in India are encouraged to dress modestly at all times, but a brasher side to modern life has been exposed after a popular model vowed to strip naked if the nation wins the cricket World Cup.

Poonam Pandey, 20, who features in a best-selling Indian swimwear calendar, said she wanted to provide an incentive to players by promising them she would bare all — though whether her offer will be welcomed is not known.

“I’m a cricket fanatic and I’m a diehard supporter of my nation.

India needs a lot of support and this is my way of supporting the team,” she told several newspapers on Wednesday.

Asked by reporters if she was pulling a publicity stunt, she replied: “Absolutely not.

I’m confident of my body and I’m doing this to excite our boys to play better.

”

Pandey received widespread media attention for her pledge, with the Times of India illustrating its story with a colour photograph of her wearing a skimpy bikini.

“Pray for Todays Match that the Boys Play well and make us Proud,” she said on her Twitter page ahead of India’s crunch semi-final game against Pakistan.

Her offer echoes that of Larissa Riquelme, a model who attracted global fame by pledging to run naked through the