T20 World Cup 2021: 5 controversies that erupted following Pakistan’s win over India
Pakistan ended their winless streak against India at the World Cup on Sunday. They put up a dominant performance with both the bat and ball to crush their arch-rivals by 10 wickets in Dubai in the T20 World Cup 2021 clash.
India went into the match as favorites considering their current form as well as the psychological advantage of never having lost to Pakistan in a World Cup match, be it the 50-over version or the T20 format. On paper as well, Virat Kohli’s men seemed the stronger of the two sides.
But it only needed a couple of overs of brilliance from Shaheen Shah Afridi to pretty much decide the fate of the match. He sent back India’s big guns, openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, cheaply. After that, it was all Pakistan as they cruised to victory.
India vs Pakistan: The ugly battle off the field
There are often extreme reactions from both sides following an India versus Pakistan encounter. However, this time things have gone too far and have turned horribly ugly. Here’s a lowdown.
#1 Bazid Khan’s “kufr tou toot gaya” comment
The first controversy emerged immediately after the India-Pakistan match was over. At the post-match presentation, presenter Bazid Khan was heard telling winning captain Babar Azam - “lekin kufr toh toot gaya”.
A lot of people took objection to the use of the world “kufr”. According to some, it was a “religious hate slur”. However, a few others tried to clarify that the “kufr toot gaya” is an Urdu phrase which basically meant that the “jinx had been broken”.
That reporter said "kufr to toot gya" It is an Urdu phrase which means someone got rid of their habitual thing, oh bhai jo hm har bar haar jaty thy is baar nhi haary stop embarrassing yourselves twitter.com/AsadGharWapsi/…
So all Bazid Khan was trying to imply was that Pakistan had ended their losing streak against India in the World Cup. Despite this, the debate over the use of the phrase continues on Twitter.
Check out the updated T20 World Cup 2021 points table here.
#2 Mohammed Shami subjected to online abuse
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami, who had an off-day against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup clash in Dubai, was subjected to some brutal trolling online. Shocking abuses were hurled at him. Some asked him to “go to Pakistan”, others questioned his credibility as a fast bowler.
Things got so bad that former (not current) cricketers had to come out in Shami’s defence. Retired all-rounder Irfan Pathan took to Twitter and wrote that he was also part of matches where India lost to their arch-rivals but was never told to “go to Pakistan”.
Irfan tweeted:
“Even I was part of #IndvsPak battles on the field where we have lost but never been told to go to Pakistan! I’m talking about IN of few years back. THIS CRAP NEEDS TO STOP. #Shami.”
Even I was part of #IndvsPak battles on the field where we have lost but never been told to go to Pakistan! I’m talking about 🇮🇳 of few years back. THIS CRAP NEEDS TO STOP. #Shami
Later, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh also spoke out in support of Shami, while Aakash Chopra changed his social media profile picture to that of the India fast bowler’s.