Pakistan’s star batter, Muhammad Rizwan, is facing backlash from India’s right-wing brigade after he was seen offering namaaz (prayers) during a World Cup match against the Netherlands on Friday. Pakistan won the match convincingly but the video of Rizwan offering namaaz inside the Hyderabad cricket stadium has left the Hindutva brigade fuming.
In the video, Rizwan could be seen offering namaaz during a break. Many felt that the star cricketer was offering Maghrib namaaz, which is offered right after the sunset and must not be delayed for too long.
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Sharing the video, one user wrote, “Hyderabad or Lahore.. This guy Mohamed Rizwan never misses any prayers whether he is on duty or not, That is the secret of his success I believe. He prayed Magrib during the drinks break. #CWC2023.”
Hyderabad or Lahore.. This guy Mohamed Rizwan never misses any prayers whether he is on duty or not, That is the secret of his success I believe. He prayed Magrib during the drinks break. #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/nPYhNV0pp0
— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) October 6, 2023
The video was enough for the right-wing supporters to erupt in anger as they accused Rizwan of provoking them by offering prayers inside an Indian cricket ground.
Right-wing Twitter handle, Bala, wrote, “Mohammad Rizwan never fails to mix cricket and religion. He deliberately does this when there are Indians watching him. He has came here to play cricket or propagate his religion?”
Another Hindutva Twitter handle, Sudhir, tweeted, “This is not Mohammad Rizwan offering Namaz in a World Cup cricket tournament. This is a video they will show you after a few years of converting this stadium into a mosque as a proof that Namaz has been offered on these grounds since years!”
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Another Twitter handle, BB, wrote, “Is this even allowed? What if Kuldeep Yadav starts singing BHAJANS after the match on the field. Go to the proper place if you want to offer prayer.”
However, Rizwan found plenty of support from many Indians. Twitter user, Dr. Gaurav Kumar, wrote, “He is just reading namaz….How does it looks like propagating his religion where we’ve already more that 28 crore muslims??”
User BigBull wrote, “#Muslims have a prescribed time for prayers & they need to pray at that time. when they are in public places at prayer time they have no other choice but to pray. The obligatory prayers never take more than 5 minutes , it’s not a big deal for most people I think.”
Rizwan had played a key role in anchoring Pakistani innings after they were reduced to 38/3 just after 9 overs against the Netherlands. He scored 68 and added 120 runs with Saud Shakeel for the fourth wicket. Shakeel too made 68 from 52 balls.
Pakistan won the match by 81 runs.