Bhogle, Prasad 'Disappointed' as Waqar Younis Dubs Namaz Before Hindus 'Special'

Younis said that watching Mohammad Rizwan offer namaz "in front of Hindus was very special to him".

File photo of Waqar Younis.

(Photo: Reuters)

While the India Pakistan T20 World Cup match on Sunday, 24 October, was way short of action and intensity on the field, the same cannot be said for all the 'off-field' action.

Now, legendary Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis is in the news for his comments on the match, which Pakistan won by 10-wickets.

After a video of Mohammad Rizwan offering namaz during the drinks break of the match had gone viral on social media, Younis, a former Pakistan captain, allegedly said on one of his country's news channels that watching Pakistan opening batsman Mohammad Rizwan offer namaz "in front of Hindus was very special to him".

This comes just days after Indian bowler Mohammad Shami was brutally trolled for having a bad day on the field against Pakistan on Sunday.

His comments did not go down well with many, including cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle who took to Twitter to say that he was extremely disappointed and did not expect such comments from a player of the stature of Waqar Younis.:

"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,"

"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 added.

Bhogle further said that he hoped Waqar Younis would offer an apology for his comments. "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."

India bowler Venkatesh Prasad too took to Twitter to vent, saying:

"Hinduon ke beech me khade hoke namaaz padi, that was very very special for me" - Waqar . Takes jihadi mindset of another level to say this in a sport. What a shameless man,"

Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed had called the win against India a 'victory for Islam'.

"For Pakistan, today's India-Pakistan match was the final," he had said.