Hyderabad: Former Pakistan pace bowler Waqar Younis, who sparked a row with a controversial remark on Mohammed Rizwan’s prayer after the big win against India, has apologised.
Younis, who kicked-up a row when he said that watching Mohammed Rizwan’s namaz in front of Hindus was very special to a television channel, said he was carried away by his emotions where Shoaib Akhtar was also present. But the remark didn’t go down well with the Indian fraternity and many criticised him for such remarks.
Noted commentator Harsha Bhogle expressed shock for such comments. He took to twitter slamming Waqar. “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.”
“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,” he wrote on Twitter.
“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 in a series of tweets.
However, Waqar came out apologising to the cricket fraternity for his comments. A day after his remarks, he said he was carried away by his emotions. “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,” he wrote on Twitter.
He later, speaking during a show, added “My intention was not that. I was very excited that Pakistan won and used words that might have hurt sentiments of some people. I apologise and I never meant it, it was in the heat of the moment. I also want to say that people from the other country (India) hyped his remarks since India lost and they could not find any other reason but still it was wrong of me I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s move on.” during a television show.
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