November 23, 2024 08:36 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
'Third World War has begun:' Ex-Ukraine military commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny | UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations to resume in early 2024 | UK can arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits country based on ICC warrant | Centre to send over 10,000 additional soldiers to violence-hit Manipur amid fresh violence | Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed during encounter with security forces in Sukma
Former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis apologises for his
Waqar Younis
Image: Waqar Younis Twitter page

Former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis apologises for his "Namaz-Hindu" comment

| @indiablooms | 27 Oct 2021, 05:18 pm

Dubai: Former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis has apologised for his "Namaz-Hindu" remark after he faced criticisms from fans online.

"In the heat of the moment, I said something which I did not mean which has hurt the sentiments of many. I apologise for this, this was not intended at all, genuine mistake. Sports unites people regardless of race, colour or religion. #apologies," Younis, who is known as one of the finest bowlers to play cricket for Pakistan, tweeted.

The comment had disappointed sports fans across the globe after Pakistan's game against India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, which they lost by 10 wickets.

Waqar, in an interview to a Pakistani news channel, had said, "The manner in which Babar (Azam) and (Mohammed) Rizwan batted, the strike-rotation, the look on their faces, it was amazing. The best thing, what Rizwan did, Mashalla, he offered the Namaz on the ground surrounded by Hindus, that was really something very special for me."

Reacting to the remarks, former cricketer-turned-commentator Akash Chopra took to twitter and expressed his disagreement by saying, "Et tu, Waqar."

Another former cricketer Wasim Jaffer called it as disgusting.

He tweeted, "Absolutely vile and disgusting comments from Waqar Younis. #shamefull."

Indian commentator and cricket expert Harsha Bhogle also shared a thread expressing his opinion on Waqar’s controversial statement.

"For a person of Waqar Younis' stature to say that watching Rizwan offering namaz in front of Hindus was very special to him, is one of the most disappointing things I have heard. A lot of us try hard to play such things down and talk up sports and to hear this is terrible.

"I really hope that a lot of genuine sports lovers in Pakistan are able to see the dangerous side to this statement and join in my disappointment. It makes it very difficult for sports lovers like us to try and tell people it is just sport, just a cricket match," he said.

"You would think that cricketers, as ambassadors of our game, would be a little more responsible. I am sure there will be an apology on the way from Waqar. We need to unite the cricket world, not divide it by religion," Harsha said.

Waqar, it looks, has not disappointed Harsha and others as he apologised for his "Namaz-Hindu" remarks.

(With UNI inputs)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.