A Pakistani man was taken out of the stadium in Old Trafford, Manchester, during the fourth Test match between England and India. A video of a man being taken out of the stadium by the security forces has gone viral on social media. A
Alegedly, the man claims he was taken out by the security forces because he was wearing the Pakistani jersey during the match. A video going viral on social media shows the security forces asking the man to either cover his jersey as he was wearing a Pakistani cricket jersey or they asked him to change his shirt or leave the stadium. He preferred to leave the stadium.
He said that he has filed an official complaint with the English Cricket Board and the local administration.
Social media users have strongly reacted to the incident as they claim that it was an attempt to politicize the game of cricket. It is noteworthy to remember that Pakistan and India recently engaged in an intense military escalation in May this year, where both countries attacked each other through land and air.
Since then, tensions have been high between the countries. Earlier this month, Indian players had refused to play Pakistan in the WCL match in England.
Shahid Afridi has spoken out against the former Indian player for cancelling the highly anticipated World Championship of Legends (WCL) match between Pakistan champions and Indian champions on Sunday at Edgbaston.
Read more: Shahid Afridi slams Indian cricketer for cancelling WCL match
According to many media reports, the match was cancelled due to the refusal of Indian players, namely Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, and Shikhar Dhawan, to participate in the match, reportedly due to the recent conflict between India and Pakistan. During a recent media press conference, Afridi stressed the importance of keeping sports separate from politics.
“We are here to play cricket, and I’ve always said that cricket should be kept away from politics — it should move forward. A player should be a good ambassador, not a source of embarrassment for their country,” Afridi said.
He also criticized the Indian team’s sudden change of stance regarding his presence in the team.
“We’ve come here to play cricket. If India didn’t want to play against Pakistan, they should’ve refused before coming here. But now you’ve arrived, even held practice sessions, and then suddenly changed everything in a single day,” he added.