India defeated Pakistan comprehensively in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match which was played in Ahmedabad on October 14. With this win, India registered a hat-trick of wins in the tournament and moved to the top position in the points table as well.
While Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49) shined for Pakistan, their wickets caused a collapse which saw Pakistan slide to 191 all out from 155/2. In response, Rohit Sharma’s 63-ball 86 blew any hopes of Pakistan fighting back, and Shreyas Iyer with 53* finished the job with 7 wickets in hand.
During the match, it was noticed that the Ahmedabad crowd was supporting the Indian team and opposed Pakistan vehemently.
Babar Azam was booed during the toss and in an isolated incident, Mohammad Rizwan was heckled with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants by a faction of crowd as he returned to the pavilion after his dismissal.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his two cents on the matter and asked why did it happen to only one player from the Pakistan team and not others. The former India opening batter suggested that a 20 or 30-second clip can't paint the entire picture.
"If you are getting a certain kind of behavior if you have a problem although no one has said anything, only Mickey Arthur said, I haven't heard any Pakistan player speaking, but if anyone among them speaks, you might need to look slightly within that why it happened with only one guy. Why did it not happen with the others?", Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Notably, many slammed the crowd for bringing in religion while heckling Rizwan. But others defended the actions while referring to Mohammad Rizwan doing namaz on the field during the India vs. Pakistan 2021 T20 World Cup match.
"The entire story is not there in 20 or 30-second clips. India is an extremely inclusive country and we treat everyone with love and a lot of people will stand witness to that. If someone has an agenda, they can peddle it,” he added.
Chopra further delved into the narratives of social media, saying what one or two clips suggested can't be the story of the entire stadium. It might not even be true.
"What you see is not always the entire truth and it's more than half the time not the truth on social media. If you see one or two clips and you feel that's what has happened with everyone, it's not necessary that's the truth," he further said.
Chopra also pointed out that while a video of people targeting Rizwan went viral, Afghanistan players like Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi, received massive support from Indian players at different venues.
