"If someone has an agenda, they can peddle it" - Aakash Chopra on complaints about crowd behavior in Pakistan's World Cup 2023 loss to India

Aakash Chopra has hit out at agenda-driven people who are criticizing the Indian fans for their behavior during Pakistan's World Cup 2023 loss to the Men in Blue.

Rohit Sharma and Co. thrashed the Men in Green by seven wickets in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14. A clip has gone viral where Mohammad Rizwan was greeted with 'Jai Shri Ram' chants on his way back to the pavilion after his dismissal during the game.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra criticized people who are propagating a false narrative about India. He elaborated (9:50):

"If you are getting a certain kind of behavior, if you have a problem although no one has said anything, only Mickey Arthur said, I haven't heard any Pakistan player speaking, but if anyone among them speaks, you might need to look slightly within that why it happened with only one guy. Why did it not happen with the others?"

The former India opener added:

"The entire story is not there in 20 or 30-second clips. India is an extremely inclusive country and we treat everyone with love and a lot of people will stand witness to that. If someone has an agenda, they can peddle it."

Chopra highlighted that judgments shouldn't be made based on social media clippings. He said (9:00):

"What you see is not always the entire truth and it's more than half the time not the truth on social media. If you see one or two clips and you feel that's what has happened with everyone, it's not necessary that's the truth."

Chopra pointed out that the angle being searched for is not there as the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz wouldn't be loved in India otherwise.

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"Sri Lanka could have also said the same thing when they were in Hyderabad" - Aakash Chopra on Mickey Arthur's complaints after Pakistan's loss

The India-Pakistan game was played in front of a vociferously supporting home crowd. [P/C: AP]

Aakash Chopra also dismissed Mickey Arthur's complaints about not hearing any music supporting Pakistan. He stated (7:50):

"Mickey Arthur said the DJ was not playing 'Dil dil Pakistan'. To be very honest, they will not play. Some other people said that the crowd should always be equal. Sri Lanka could have also said the same thing when they were in Hyderabad."

The reputed commentator pointed out that Pakistan and Afghanistan got more crowd support in their respective games against Sri Lanka and England. He elaborated:

"They are our neighbors just like Pakistan but when the DJ said - 'Jeetega bhai jeetega', the entire crowd said 'Pakistan jeetega'. There wasn't even one voice for Sri Lanka. If we talk about Afghanistan-England, it was in Delhi and the Afghanistan players got a lot of support in Delhi."

Chopra highlighted that Rashid Khan has got the support very few overseas players have got and that he has even captained the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League. He added that England could have also complained that the DJ was playing 'Afghan jalebi' in Delhi.