ICC World Cup IND vs PAK: Here's what Babar said on Rizwan's pro-Gaza tweet

Mohammad Rizwan had stoked controversy with his pro-Gaza tweet after his match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka

Babar Azam distanced himself from teammate Mohammad Rizwan’s controversial pro-Gaza tweet on the Israel-Hamas conflict on Friday, October 14, 2023. Asked about his views, the Pakistan captain said that it is necessary that he stick to cricket and the big match against India on Saturday, October 14, in the ICC Cricket World Cup.  Check India vs Pakistan live score and match updates in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

During the pre-match press conference, Babar avoided the question from a journalist who pinpointed Rizwan’s tweet after his match-winning knock against Sri Lanka, where he had dedicated his hundred to “brothers and sisters in Gaza”. 

“I think it’s better if we stick to talking about cricket – you are taking the conversation in another direction,” said the 28-year-old Babar Azam in Ahmedabad. 

 

WATCH VIDEO | Here's what Babar Azam said about Rizwan's pro-Gaza tweet ahead of IND vs pak match

 

This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. 

Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier.

Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout.

— Muhammad Rizwan (@iMRizwanPak) October 11, 2023

The reporter had asked, “In Hyderabad after you won the match – we saw that many of your match-winner players put up a tweet about it – so are the players enjoying besides the World Cup?” “I'm talking about Rizwan; he tweeted something,” he added further. 

Babar went on to answer the other question from the reporter which was about fielding. 

“About fielding – yes, I think we were not up to the mark in all three matches. I accept that. If we want to win the tournament, we have to improve our fielding, and we are working hard on this – in our last practice session we did focus more on this,” he said. 

Is this allowed @ICC ? I remember Dhoni was asked to remove the Army insignia from his gloves during the World Cup 2019
Aren’t cricketers prohibited from making political and religious statements during ICC events? https://t.co/3k5uKf4mXH

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 11, 2023

Earlier, after the controversial tweet by Rizwan, certain sections of cricket fans raised concerns about his tweet on X and asked the ICC to reprimand him, with a journalist going on as far as to compare ICC’s decision regarding former India captain MS Dhoni wearing Indian Army insignia gloves and how they were asked to be removed during the ICC 2019 World Cup.