Zainab Abbas, a Pakistani broadcaster who was a member of the ICC digital team covering the Cricket World Cup 2023, broke her silence for the first time after leaving India after receiving criticism on social media for allegedly posting anti-Indian sentiment in the past. Scroll down to read Presenter Zainab On Leaving India Over Anti-India Tweets.
Presenter Zainab On Leaving India Over Anti-India Tweets
According to Samaa TV, presenter Zainab Abbas, a Pakistani for the ICC World Cup, exited India due to safety concerns. The media outlet further stated that she left India for Dubai. Her earlier tweets came to light when she revealed that she would be a presenter for the Cricket World Cup 2023 that India is hosting.
Zainab posted a statement on X, now known as Twitter, saying, “I have always felt incredibly privileged and grateful for the opportunity to travel and present the sport I love; this one would have been exceptionally special.”
Zainab Abbas also made it clear that she was not deported or asked to leave India. She went on to say in the statement, “I was neither asked to leave nor deported.”
Zainab departed India for Hyderabad, where she was assigned to cover Pakistan’s three Cricket World Cup games. The 35-year-old was present on October 6 for Pakistan’s World Cup debut against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
After she said she would be covering the big ICC event in India, posts from her unconfirmed X account, formerly Twitter, went viral.
Abbas said on X (previously Twitter) on October 2 that she was thrilled to be a presenter for the ICC World Cup. YearOfTheKraken, an X user, disagreed with the choice and provided screenshots of her earlier anti-Hindu and anti-India postings. She blasted, “This 120 crore population can’t produce one fast bowler. You should eat some f*c*ing meat, Shakaharis,” in one of those old tweets.
The International Cricket Council emphasized that Zainab was not expelled from the host nation as social media rumors about her leaving India during the competition grew more intense.
An ICC spokeswoman informed PTI that Zainab had gone for personal reasons rather than being deported. The presenter, who landed in Hyderabad last week, was planning to visit Bengaluru, Chennai, and Ahmedabad, as well as other locations where Pakistan was due to play.
Rameez Raja and Waqar Younis, former Pakistani athletes, are in India to serve on the commentary team for the ODI championship, which began on October 5 and will conclude on November 19.
