Did the actress skip the media launch of her box cricket team to avoid questions on Hema Malini's recent controversial tweets? Esha Deol, who owns a team in the upcoming Punjab edition of the box cricket league, was conspicuous by her absence during the tourney's launch in Mumbai despite the invite bearing her name. The event was held just a day after her mother Hema Malini's controversial tweet about the Dausa road mishap sparked outrage.


Says a source, "Her absence made it clear that she wanted to steer clear of the media and their barrage of questions about her mother's remarks."

While Esha was not available for comment, Sunny Arora, creator of the box cricket league, says, "Esha owns a team, but I do not know why she did not attend the event."

Last Wednesday, the actress-politician faced a lot of flak for blaming the father of the four-year-old girl who was killed in the July 2 mishap near Dausa in Rajasthan. Hema, who had escaped with minor head injuries, had tweeted: "How I wish the girl's father had followed the traffic rules - then this accident could have been averted and the li'l one's life safe (sic)." This was met with sharp criticism not only from the Twitterati, but also from most media organisations.