In what is becoming a common practice in the subcontinent, fans are resorting to burning effigies and raising offensive slogans when their national teams do not perform as expected. Deccan Chronicle reported iconic cricketers such as Misbah ul Haq and Wasim Akram condemning such over-the-top reactions from Pakistani fans following their team’s abject show in the 2016 Asia Cup.
Their response comes at a time when the mood in Pakistan is at an all-time low after the limited-overs teams continue to flounder at every opportunity. Allegedly, some female teachers and students at a local school in Karimabad showed their frustration by applying make-up and jewellery on posters containing prominent Pakistani players.
Fans should be ashamed: Akram
Understandably, Wasim Akram was livid in his response and said, “People should be ashamed at making fun of our team.” In other parts of Pakistan, angry supporters smashed television sets and burnt effigies of Shahid Afridi and his team members following the loss against arch-rivals India.
The legendary left-arm pacer who won many a match for his country asked fans to show respect to their national cricketers. He asserted, “Our team is going through a bad phase, the players are out of form and under pressure. They need support at this stage not to be mocked and made fun off in this manner.”
Warning that such disgraceful acts from fans will not help the team’s cause, the ‘Sultan of Swing’ continued, “If we continue to go overboard in our reactions then it will neither help our team nor Pakistan cricket.”
It is Pakistan’s team: Misbah
Pakistani Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq also echoed the sentiments of his senior countryman. The usually composed Misbah argued, “I ask whose team is this. Does it belong to some other country? It is our team, it is Pakistan's team and this is the time for everyone to support it wholeheartedly.”
Such incidents are not restricted to Pakistan alone. Across the border, furious Indian fans had pelted stones at Yuvraj Singh’s house in Chandigarh after they felt that his dismal showing contributed to India’s loss during the final of the 2014 World T20 against Sri Lanka.
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