'What love! Why do you play cricket with Pakistan in Australia': Owaisi's dig
"What will happen if you don't play cricket with Pakistan at all? A loss of ₹1000 crore-2,000 crore of the television? Is it more than what India matters to you," Owaisi said.
Ahead of the India-Pakistan in Melbourne, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday questioned why India plays cricket with Pakistan in Australia when it decides against sending its team to play in Pakistan. "Why are you now playing the cricket match with Pakistan tomorrow? Nahi khel na tha. No, we won't go to Pakistan but will play with them in Australia. What is this love? Don't play with Pakistan. What will happen if you don't play with Pakistan? A loss of ₹2000 crore for the television? But is it more than what India matters? Leave, don't play," Owaisi said touching upon the issue of India deciding not to send its team to play Asia Cup 2023 in Pakistan.
"Now I don't know who will win the match. But I also want that India wins and that Shami and our children like Mohammed Siraj do their best to crush Pakistan," Owaisi said.
"But these people will thump their chest if India wins and if India loses, they will start finding whose fault it was. What's your problem? This is cricket," the Hyderabad MP said in a veiled referred to the trolling of Muslim players.
"You have a problem with our hijab, with our beard and also with our cricket," Owaisi said.
A major India versus Pakistan has erupted after BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who os also the chief of the Asian Cricket Council, announced that Indian team will not travel to Pakistan which triggered a pushback from the Pakistan Cricket Board which threatened to not participate in the World Cup in India. Sports minister Anurag Thakur said the final decision on whether the Indian team will travel to Pakistan to take part in Asia Cup will be taken by the home ministry. On Pakistan's threat, the minister said he expects all countries to participate in the World Cup.
