An Indian lawyer has filed a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Rizwan for offering prayer on the field.
This is the second instance a complaint has been filed against Mohammad Rizwan since the beginning of the World Cup in India.
After scoring a match-winning century against Sri Lanka, he dedicated his performance to the people of Gaza in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. However, the ICC was satisfied with the cricketer's explanation and refused to take action against him.
Besides this, Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas also left India due to threats after a first information report (FIR) was registered against her citing her decade-old tweets.
Read here: Zainab Abbas speaks out first time after FIR row in India
Now, an advocate of Supreme Court of India named Vineet Jindal has lodged another complaint with the ICC against the Pakistani cricketer.
It 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."
The complaint 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. Rizwan was seen 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 went on to mention, "Earlier in 2021, Rizwan had offered namaz on the ground. When Babar Azam-led side defeated India by 10 wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12” game, former Pakistan pace bowler Wagar Younis expressed his glee and voiced, “What I liked most is what Rizwan did. He stood in the middle of the ground and read the prayers in front of the Hindus,” after the 31-year-old Mohammad Rizwan had used the cricket match as an opportunity to flaunt his faith in front of millions of viewers belonging to various religion. Pakistani social media users have also lauded batsman Mohammad Rizwan for offering an on-field prayer during the match."
Vineet Jindal urged ICC to take strict action against the Pakistani cricketer.
