Fans on both sides of the border were divided on social media over the exit of Zainab Abbas from India after the Pakistani sports presenter left the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 coverage due to what the sport’s governing body called “personal reasons”.
Abbas arrived in India last week and was part of the ICC’s digital team covering the World Cup.
However, her stint was short-lived as the presenter left India after complaints registered against her surfaced during the tournament. Vineet Jindal, an advocate in New Delhi, lodged a formal complaint against Abbas to the police, over “derogatory and provocative posts” mocking India and the Hindu religion.
Jindal’s complaint also cited a tweet from Abbas’ official X (formerly Twitter) account in which she wrote about Kashmir’s right to self-determination, reported the BBC.
Jindal also shared a letter he wrote over the weekend to Home Minister Amit Shah and his son Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body of Indian cricket, seeking the commentator’s removal as an ICC presenter, added BBC.
The posts are no longer available on the social media platform.
Abbas left on Monday amid claims by news outlets that she was forced to leave.
An ICC spokesperson, however, was reportedly quoted to have said that Abbas left for personal reasons.
Netizens weighed in on her expulsion on X with many fans calling the predicament “unfair”, as the tweets were nearly a decade old and should not have mattered now.
The rest felt like it was justified, as comments about religion should be avoided.
Some hailed the development, saying that it was “good that Abbas was out of the World Cup”.
Another user called for the ‘same treatment’ for former captain Waqar Younis.
However, there were others who felt the development was unfortunate.
Abbas reported on Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad. She was due to travel to Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad for Pakistan’s other matches.
Pakistan and India are all set to clash on October 14 in Ahmedabad for a World Cup match.
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