BJP leader weighs in on crowd behaviour at India-Pak game, points to Afghanistan vs England match

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh on Monday cited the Afghanistan versus England match in the ongoing 2023 Cricket World Cup to assert that religion has nothing to do with the support of the audience.

The Afghan players on Sunday garnered overwhelming support from the enthusiastic crowd at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, igniting sheer excitement among the spectators with each wicket they took against England. The videos widely circulated on social media showed the crowd cheering for the Afghan players whenever they hit a boundary or took a wicket.

During the India versus Pakistan match in Ahmedabad, a section of the crowd taunting Muhammad Rizwan with chants of “Jai Shri Ram” after he was dismissed for 49 runs triggered controversy, with DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin describing the behaviour as “unacceptable”. Some users criticised the Ahmedabad fans’ behaviour, citing precedents of Indian fans behaving well towards their arch-rivals.

“The way Afghanistan got support on the field in yesterday’s match proves that religion has nothing to do with support on the field,” Giriraj Singh said in a social media post in Hindi.

“Pakistan gets this kind of treatment from the audience because of its deeds,” he added.

Afghanistan defeated defending champions England by 69 runs at the Cricket World Cup on Sunday in the first big upset of the 2023 tournament. They came into Sunday’s clash having lost their opening two games in India and on a 14-match losing World Cup streak. The stunning upset gave Afghanistan their second World Cup win to add to a lone victory over Scotland at the 2015 tournament.

Here’s how the social media reacted to the win and the support it received from the audience:

“A cracking atmosphere in Delhi – raucous support for both sides in an intimate stadium. Interesting game so far, with Afghanistan producing their best batting performance of the tournament – 285 could be a challenging chase for England,” wrote a sports journalist for The Telegraph.

“The stadium is jam-packed for a non-India match and the crowd is going crazy cheering for Afghanistan. It’s so heartwarming to see everyone showing their support,” wrote another user.