On 12th November, former Pakistani Cricketer Abdul Razzaq made a vulgar comment while drawing a bizarre parallel between marrying Aishwarya Rai and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). After Razzaq’s comment, his fellow ex-cricketers on stage, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul laughed and clapped in appreciation of Razzaq’s derogatory comment. Now, however, Shahid Afridi has tried to defend himself by saying that he laughed without listening to what Abdul Razzaq said.
During his appearance on Samaa TV, the former Pakistan captain Afridi said, “We were on stage, and Razzaq said something. I didn’t understand, I was just laughing randomly. I knew the mic was in Razzaq’s hand, he would say something, he is very fond of such comments.”
Shahid Afridi further tried to cover up his embarrassment by saying, “After returning home, someone shared the clip with me and then I heard what Razzaq has said. That is when I heard what Razzaq actually said, I laughed randomly on stage. Then I felt strange.”
Afridi further said that he will send a message to Abdul Razzaq and will ask him to say sorry to everyone. Afridi said that it was a bad joke and that nobody should joke about such things, even though he found it hilarious while he was on stage with Abdul Razzaq.
Earlier, Abdul Razzaq, while 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, ridiculed the intentions of PCB by dragging Indian actress Aishwarya Rai into an uncalled-for statement, reflecting the deep-seated Hinduphobia and misogyny endemic to Pakistan society.
Razzaq said, “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.