Former Pakistani cricketer Abdul Razzaq attended a media session with team members Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul where he uttered an inappropriate remark about Aishwarya Rai which sparked severe backlash. However, the ex-cricketer later apologized for his disrespectful statement.
During the interview, the former players criticized the Green Shirts' dismal showing at the World Cup 2023, when competitors outperformed them.
However, Razzaq's remarks diverted attention from the team's performance to his ridiculous example selection, which was meant to condemn the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
He raised larger worries about Pakistan's lack of constructive intents for player development and said:
"If you think that by marrying Aishwarya Rai a good and pious kid would be born, it would never happen, Therefore, you must first amend your intentions."
Razzaq faced a lot of criticism, he later apologized the Bollywood diva and called it a slip of tongue.
"My name is Abdul Razzaq, and I was talking about cricket and coaching in yesterday's press conference. I intended to cite another example when I was speaking, but I accidentally used Aishwarya Rai's name, which wasn't appropriate. I sincerely apologies to her."
Shahid Afridi was also spotted clapping on the statement given by Razzaq and came under fire for this act as people said that he is a father of daughters, atleast he should know how to respect a woman.
However, Shahid clarified people that what exactly happened, he stated:
“I felt petrified yesterday, we were sitting in a conference where Razzaq was saying something, I didn’t hear what he exactly said and started laughing.
In my mind, I was sure that he must have cracked some joke as per his nature but when I saw the clip, I felt really bad. I would now text Abdul Razzaq to say sorry.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0MsUOeg8sU&t=100s
Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also took to his tweeter account and schooled Abdul Razzaq.
https://twitter.com/shoaib100mph/status/1724409939542909127?s=20
He further cleared Shahid’s position and tweeted.
Waqar Younas also condemned this disrespectful behavior.
Pakistani cricketers have been criticized in the past for not thinking before they speak multiple times.