A few Pakistan cricket team players might have invited further controversy amid the 2023 World Cup after putting up a flag of Palestine on their official account of X (formerly Twitter), signaling their support amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. The likes of Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, and Iftikhar Ahmed were the ones posting Palestine's flag on Twitter after Mohammad Rizwan first came forward to support them.
Posting Palestine flag on their respectice X accounts one after another is seen as a political statement the Pakistani players are making who are in India which has maintained its firm stance of supporting Israel in their war against Palestine.
Rizwan already landed in hot waters after posting a tweet on X, dedicating his 2023 World Cup performance against Sri Lanka to the people in Gaza. The keeper-batter wrote the below on Twitter:
"This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier. Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout."
An Indian lawyer named Vineet Jindal has also filed a complaint against Rizwan for offering prayers on the field during the clash against Netherlands while his teammates took drinks during the break. He also mentioned in the complaint how Rizwan dedicating his performance to the people of Gaza underlines his strong political and religious ideology. However, Pakistan captain Babar Azam abstained from giving any opinion on the topic when asked during the press conference before facing India in Ahmedabad.
Here's the tweets of Pakistan cricketers posting Palestine's flag:
Meanwhile, Pakistan are currently in the 4th spot in the 2023 World Cup standings, winning 2 and losing 1. Babar Azam's men will next face Australia on October 20th in Bengaluru.
