Oct 27, 2021: Following the reaction on social media to former cricketer Waqay Younis’s statement about wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan’s prayers during the much-discussed Pakistan-India match on Sunday, former cricketer Waqar Younis said he apologizes for the statement if it has hurt sentiments.

Younes wrote on his Twitter handle: “In the heat of the moment, I said something I didn’t mean, which hurt a lot of people’s feelings.” “I apologize for that, it was not an intention at all, a real mistake,” he wrote, adding that sports unite people “regardless of race, color or religion”.

On Sunday, when Pakistan beat India by a historic 10-wicket victory, Younis said that what impressed him the most during the match was that Rizwan stood in the middle of the ground and beat several Hindus. He offered his prayers in front.

After the statement went viral, people called Younis out for making such an unreasonable statement. Among them was Indian sports anchor Harsha Bhogle who tweeted: “For a person of Waqar Younis’ stature to say that watching Rizwan offering namaz in front of Hindus was very special to him, is one of the most disappointing things I have heard.”

He said in a series of tweets shared on his official Twitter handle, “A lot of us try our best to play things like this down and talk about the game and it’s awful to hear.” He added: “You would think that cricketers, as ambassadors for our game, would be a little more responsible. I am sure Waqar will apologize along the way. “We need to unite the world of cricket, not divide it on the basis of religion.”

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