CWC 2023: ICC Says Pakistani Presenter Zainab Abbas 'Not Deported', Left India For 'Personal Reasons'

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas has indeed left India but not because she was deported. Zainab Abbas was part of ICC's digital team covering the ODI spectacle in India.

Zainab was present at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad for Pakistan's World Cup opener against the Netherlands on October 6. She left from the city for Dubai on Monday.

The 35-year-old has been facing backlash ever since her 2014 tweets against India and anti-Hindu remarks surface on social media last week.

An Indian lawyer named Vineet Jindal even filed a complaint against Zainab, who is quite popular in the world cricket fraternity.

Posts from her unverified X account, formerly Twitter, had gone viral after she announced that she would be covering the ICC mega event in India.

As speculation on social media intensified over her departure from India in the middle of the tournament, the International Cricket Council clarified that Zainab was not deported from the host country.

"Zainab has not been deported, she has left for personal reasons," an ICC spokesperson told PTI.

Zainab, who arrived in Hyderabad last week, was supposed to travel to cities where Pakistan are scheduled to play, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad.