Terrible! Harsha Bhogle slams Waqar Younis for calling Rizwan’s on-field namaz in front of Hindus ‘special’

Former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis has sparked controversy with his shocking remarks after Team India’s loss against Babar Azam-led Pakistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. India lost against Pakistan by ten wickets in their opening clash of the T20 World Cup as the Men in Green brought an end to their winless run of 12 matches in the cricket World Cup.

Pakistan had lost all on twelve meetings against India (7 in ODI World Cup and 5 in T20 World Cup) before Sunday. However, stellar performances from their bowlers and star batters Mohammad Rizwan, and Babar helped Pakistan attain a historic win at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

Speaking on a show following the game, former pacer and bowling coach Waqar Younis made a controversial remark while praising Rizwan for his match-winning knock. Waqar said Rizwan ‘praying in front of Hindus’ impressed him the most and was ‘special’ for him.

Rizwan was seen praying in the middle of the ground after leading his side to a historic win against India on Sunday.  “Sabse achi baat jo Rizwan ne ki. Usne ground mein khade hoke Naamaz padhe, hinduon ke beech mein….So that was really something very very special for me. (What I liked the most is what Rizwan did. He stood in the middle of the ground and read the prayers, in front of the Hindus),” Younis said on Pakistani news channel ARY News.

The statement has left the cricket fraternity in shock with fans also expressing their disappointment. A number of fans and experts of the game have taken to social media to slam the former Pakistan fast bowler for his choice of words. Popular commentator Harsha Bhogle has also joined the bandwagon and termed Younis’ remarks as disappointing.

“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,” said Bhogle in a tweet.

Former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra also took to Twitter to react to Younis’ controversial statement and wrote – “Et tu, Waqar.” 

Also Read: Waqar Younis makes heads turn with SHOCKING remark after Indo-Pak T20 WC tie

Pakistan brought an end to a angonising wait to register their maiden win against India in a World Cup encounter with their heroic performance against Kohli’s men. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Pakistan bowled tremendously well to restrict India on a moderate 151 before chasing down the target without losing a single wicket.

Skipper Babar scored an unbeaten 68 while Rizwan slammed 79 not out to forge an unbeaten stand of 151 runs and take Pakistan home comfortably in their first game of the tournament. Pakistan will now hope to make it two wins in a row in their second game against New Zealand on Tuesday.