As India registered a thumping victory over arch-rivals Pakistan, a video of Indian fans at the Narendra Modi stadium greeting Pakistani wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans has gone viral on the internet.
In the video, as Rizwan walks through the isle towards the pavilion after getting bowled on a peach of a delivery of Indian ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, the crowds of Indian supporters lining up the stairway chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans.
It is worth noting that Rizwan had created quite a flutter with his recent tweet, dedicating the victory against Sri Lanka to Gaza residents after the Hamas terror attacks killed more than 1,300 Israelis.
Muhammad Rizwan, who managed to score a century in the match against Sri Lanka, dedicated his country’s win to “brothers and sisters in Gaza.” He also thanked the Indian audience and added, “Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout.”
However, the cricketer received a lot of flak for interjecting politics into the game. A raft of social media users took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to flay the Pakistani cricketer for using the platform of the World Cup to promote his political and religious ideology.
Notably, Muhammad Rizwan is infamous for fusing politics, religion and sports much like several of his countrymen. He recently caught the attention of many when he started offering Namaz on the cricket field during the second half of the match against the Netherlands while his teammates awaited drinks during the break. He received condemnation for doing the same just in front of Indians.