On 12th November, former Pakistani Cricketer Abdul Razzaq drew a bizarre parallel between marrying Aishwarya Rai and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Razzaq was attending an event at the Karachi Marriott Hotel with former Pakistani crickets who were part of the T20 team that won the 2009 World Cup. He ridiculed the intentions of PCB by dragging Indian actress Aishwarya Rai into a totally uncalled-for statement, reflecting the deep-seated Hinduphobia and misogyny endemic to Pakistan society.
He said, “I’m talking about their (PCB’s) intention here. When I was playing, I knew that my captain, Younis Khan’s intentions were good. I took confidence and courage from that, and thanks to Allah, I could deliver for Pakistan cricket. Right now, a lot of talk here is surrounding around the Pakistan team and the players’ performances in the World Cup. I think we do not have the intention to polish and develop the players.”
He added, “If you think that I will get married to Aishwarya (Rai) and then have good and virtuous kids, then that can never happen. So you have to correct your intentions first.”
Razzaq shared the stage with Shoaib Malik, who happens to be married to Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza. Other cricketers present on the stage were Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Misbah Ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Kamran Akmal.
Those who were present on the stage and some of the people in the audience laughed and clapped at the comment. However, several were left baffled by the unwanted misogynist and anti-Hindu comment by Razzaq.
Even Pakistanis ridiculed him for the statement. An X user from Pakistan, Hamza, said, “Never ever thought a player like Abdul Razzaq would stoop that low in his life. Shameful.”
X user, Sunil the Criketer, said, “Car driver of Aishwarya Rai looks more handsome than Abdul Razzaq.”
X user Khabri Bhai wrote, “Third Class Statement by Pakistani legend Cricketer Abdul Razzaq on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Shahid Afridi is shamelessly laughing on it along with their media – This shows the cheap mentality of the people of Pakistan and what their woman suffer each day in their country.”
PakTV’s founder and anchor Sana Ullah Khan criticised Razzaq for the statement and insinuated that such comments lead to retaliating statements from India.
Pakistan Cricket Team kicked out of ICC World Cup
In the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, the Pakistani Cricket Team was kicked out of the tournament after shameful defeats in the league matches. Babar Azam-led Pakistani Cricket Team failed to register a single win against strong teams.
Pakistan started the World Cup journey by winning the match against the Netherlands on 6th October and defeating Sri Lanka on 10th October. However, the next match on 14th October was with India, where Pakistan was brought down to its knees by the Indian Cricket Team. Pakistan scored only 191 in 42.5 overs with ten batsmen back in the pavilion. India, on the other hand, chased the score and won in just 30.3 overs.
Not only the cricket team but the fans in general who were present at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad broke the morale of the Pakistani team with loud chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to the extent that it could not stand back on its feet. Australia defeated Pakistan in the next match by 62 runs on 20th October.
The unimaginable shock for Pakistan came from an underrated Afghanistan, which defeated Pakistan by eight wickets on 23rd October. South Africa defeated Pakistan by one wicket. The only win came against Bangladesh on 31st October. The next two matches against New Zealand and England were salt in the wounds for Pakistan, losing the matches by 201 and 93 runs, respectively.
Brazen Hindu hate among Pakistani crickets
Pakistani cricketers are known for anti-Hindu statements. Former cricketer-turn-politician and ex-PM of Pakistan, Imran Khan, had once said he viewed a cricketing contest against India not as a mundane match but as jihad. The revelation was made by former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, who a Pakistani journalist once told that when he asked Imran Khan how he bowls with such fire against India, he responded, ‘whenever I play against India, I don’t treat it as a game, I think of Kashmir and treat it as a jihad’.
Former cricket Javed Miandad is known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rants. He has given countless statements against PM Modi, especially after the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir. Former Cricket Waqar Younis once praised Pakistani players for offering Namaz on the ground and gloated it was done in front of Hindus.
In an interview on the Indian channel Aaj Tak, Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar recently endorsed the two-nation theory that led to the partition of India. Shoaib Akhtar said he believed in the two-nation theory while speaking on a cricket show organised by the channel. He also lent his support to an extremist ideology. In a news chat show, Shoaib Akhtar advocated the Islamic supremacist fantasy of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, stating that Islamic forces will capture Kashmir and invade India.
Former Pakistani batsman Saeed Anwar was another cricketer who supported Islamic supremacism and treated non-Muslims with contempt. In a meeting, Anwar said all non-Muslims were going to be incinerated in hellfire, and it was the duty of Muslims to save them by converting them to Islam.
Another Pakistani cricketer, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had captained the Pakistani cricket team and also served as chief selector, had also spewed venom against non-Muslims. In an interview, Inzamam-ul-Haq warned that if Muslims started showing their Muslimism, not one human on earth would remain non-Muslim.