Former India cricketer and AAP MP Harbhajan Singh has criticized ex-India player and 1983 World Cup winner Kirti Azad, who is also an MP from TMC, for playing politics over Suryakumar Yadav, Gautam Gambhir, and Jay Shah visiting a Hanuman temple with the T20 World Cup 2026 trophy.
After India defeated New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday, March 8, captain Surya, coach Gambhir, and ICC chairman Jay Shah visited a Hanuman temple nearby to thank the god for fulfilling their wishes.
#WATCH | Gujarat: ICC Chairman Jay Shah, Team India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir, along with Skipper Surya Kumar Yadav, offered prayers at the Hanuman Temple in Ahmedabad.
— ANI (@ANI) March 8, 2026
The Men in Blue crushed New Zealand by 96 runs to lift the #ICCT20WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/71SWAraDre
However, Kirti Azad questioned why the Indian cricket team visits a temple every time after winning a trophy. Azad questioned why the squad, which included players of many faiths, couldn't instead visit a mosque, a church, and a gurudwara.
In his now-viral post on X, Azad blasted the Indian cricket body (BCCI) for allegedly pulling the Indian squad into a religious debate in which the country's dominant religion was highlighted. Azad stated that the trophy belonged to 1.4 billion people, not to a single religion's victory lap.
SHAME ON TEAM INDIA! ????
— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) March 9, 2026
When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team.
We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan
Why The Hell Is The Indian Cricket Trophy is being Dragged.…
However, India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC World Cup winner, Harbhajan Singh, has given an apt reply to Kirti Azad. He stated eloquently that a temple, mosque, church, and gurudwara were all the same, and that it was dishonorable to criticize a player or board member for practicing their beliefs.
"It is absurd what he (Kirti Azad) is trying to do by playing politics with this. The Indian team can take the trophy to a temple, a mosque, a church, or wherever they want to. If they have asked something from their God and have revisited their faith after their wish was fulfilled, what's the problem in that? " Harbhajan Singh said.
"It is unfortunate to hear these things from fellow cricketers. Maybe they are preferring politics over the sport. It is even more unfortunate that he is a sportsman. The country has won a World Cup. Be happy; celebrate, but you are busy doing politics. We say in our faith that all religions are the same. There may be different Gods, but the path is the same. If they went to a temple, a mosque, or a church, it is the same. It is their faith, and you should not be questioning it," he added.
#WATCH | Delhi | On BCCI announcing Rs 131 Crore prize money for Team India for winning the ICC T20 World Cup, Former Indian Cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh, says, "I was expecting more, because when such a big task is undertaken, the reward should be even greater.… pic.twitter.com/xOxejmhZEG
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2026
The Indian team was asked to bat first by New Zealand and, thanks to 89 by Sanju Samson and fifties by Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma, plus a late surge by Shivam Dube, posted 255/5 in 20 overs. Then Jasprit Bumrah’s 4/15 and Axar Patel’s 3 wickets broke the back of the Kiwi chase, who folded for 159 runs. India won the final by 96 runs and lifted the T20 World Cup trophy for a record third time.
