ISLAMABAD: An Indian lawyer lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Rizwan for his on-field prayer.
An advocate from the Supreme Court of India, Vineet Jindal, has lodged a second complaint with the ICC against Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Rizwan. This marks the second instance of a complaint against Rizwan during the ongoing World Cup in India.
After scoring a match-winning century against Sri Lanka, Rizwan dedicated his performance to the people of Gaza, citing the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Despite the dedication, the ICC found Rizwan’s explanation satisfactory and opted not to take action against him. Additionally, Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas left India due to threats following the registration of a first information report (FIR) against her, citing decade-old tweets.
The complain stated, “This is a complaint about Pakistan Cricket Player, Mohammad Rizwan, who was seen offering namaz on the cricket field during his team’s opening match of the ongoing ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 on Friday (October 6) against the Netherlands in Hyderabad.”
It further continued, “The act of Mohammad Rizwan when he read namaz on the cricket field amid many Indians is symbolic of the intentional depiction of his religion which stands against the spirit of the sports.”
“This very act of the player raises questions about the spirit of the match and raises a question of the ideology, the player follows while playing the match. The act of displaying his religion by Mohammed Rizwan purposefully depicts his intent to message that he is a Muslim, defeating the spirit of sports. They saw Rizwan offering prayers amid the field while his teammates were waiting for the drinks during the break.” the lawyer argued.
“The act of representation of his religion by Mohammed Rizwan in the field and further followed by his statement in his press conference regarding the dedication of his victory to the people of Gaza further attests to his religious and political ideology.”
The complainant noted that in early 2021, Rizwan had offered prayers on the ground. When Babar Azam’s team defeated India by 10 wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ game, former Pakistani pace bowler Waqar Younis expressed his joy and stated, “What I liked most was what Rizwan did. He stood in the middle of the ground and prayed in front of the Hindus,” after the 31-year-old Mohammad Rizwan used the cricket match to openly demonstrate his faith to millions of viewers from various religions. Pakistani social media users also praised batsman Mohammad Rizwan for offering an on-field prayer during the match.
Vineet Jindal urged ICC to take strict action against the Pakistani cricketer.
