T20 World Cup 2024″ Kamran Akmal and Ijaz Ahmed©Twitter
Former Pakistan cricket team stars seem to be in the habit of making controversial statements. After Kamran Akmal made a controversial and racist “Sikh” joke against Indian cricket team star Arshdeep Singh, which sparked a huge debate, now another former Pakistan player, Ijaz Ahmed, has made an unpleasant comment. Ahmed, who played 60 Test matches and 250 ODIs for Pakistan, made the comment about the Pathani community in Pakistan. He was speaking about Pakistan cricket and Akmal was also on the discussion panel. The comment was not well received by members of the Pakistan cricket community.
“please look [Pakistan] Currently, 80% of the cricket team goes to remote areas like KP. If you select a team now, six to eight players are Pashtun and uneducated. They wake up in the morning, go to prayer with their relatives and siblings and don’t leave the house after that. When pressure comes on them, [during matches]They are unable to handle it,” Ijaz Ahmed told ARY News.
The remarks drew strong reactions from Pakistan, with ARY Digital Network founder and CEO Salman Iqbal distancing himself from the comments.
“What Ijaz Ahmed said on Kashif Abbasi’s show is unacceptable to the ARY management and me personally. I have a lot of respect for the Pashtun community and all communities in Pakistan. I feel that Ijaz Ahmed should apologise to the Pashtun community for his remarks,” he wrote on X.
Former Pakistan international Junaid Khan said: “Ijaz Ahmed should apologise.”
Social media was filled with other strong reactions.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign is in jeopardy with the team managing just one win so far from their three Group A matches.
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