Waqar said that it was very special for him to see Mohammed Rizwan offering Namaz in front of Hindus during the drinks break of the match against India.
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Former Pakistani veteran player and bowling coach, Waqar Younis drew severe criticism for making a ‘namaz’ remark, after Pakistan’s scintillating win against India last Sunday. After many former cricketers, experts and netizens criticized Waqar for making such insensitive comments, he apologized for his statement.
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 ??
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) October 26, 2021
“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 unite people regardless of race, colour or religion. #apologies,” tweeted Waqar last night.
After Pakistan registered their first-ever World Cup victory against India, Waqar was invited as a guest to a news channel to discuss the historic win. During the interaction, Waqar said that it was very special for him to see wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan offering Namaz in front of Hindus during the drinks break of the match.
He faced severe flak from various people, including Pakistani citizens for this insensitive statement. Former cricketers like Aakash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer, and cricket expert Harsha Bhogle expressed their displeasure towards Waqar’s comments. Eventually, Waqar had to apologize for his comments.
Meanwhile, Pakistan started off its T20 World Cup campaign in style by winning its first two matches, against strong teams like India and New Zealand.
Earlier, Harsha Bhogle, the renowned sports journalist, also slammed Younis for the 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 the sport and to hear this is terrible,” he said.
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 sport and to hear this is terrible.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 26, 2021
As far as Rizwan is concerned, he has been at his very best in 2021. He is currently the leading run-scorer in T20Is in the ongoing year along with Babar. After his stupendous show against India, Rizwan played well against New Zealand as well.
Since making his international debut in 2015, Rizwan had been a bright but extremely erratic and inconsistent understudy to Sarfaraz Ahmed. In his initial days, Rizwan was a technically limited batter and although he got off to a positive start in international cricket, averaging 60 in eight innings against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, his flaws got exposed against better sides.
While he flourished in red-ball cricket expressing more adaptability on his comeback to the international cricket, it was in T20Is where he made people stand up and take notice. Rizwan’s rapid rise in T20I rankings is suggestive of the same. He was ranked 159 in the shortest format of the sport in ICC’s rankings but then following a rich vein of form, leapfrogged to 42 while facing South Africa in February 2021. Rizwan is ranked fourth in the world at the moment.
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