Australia captain Pat Cummins shut down an Indian journalist on Thursday after he wrongly attributed a statement to Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
The journalist tried to create a controversy by making a false statement that Rizwan had dedicated Pakistan’s win against Sri Lanka to Hamas. It must be noted that Rizwan had dedicated Pakistan’s win to Palestine and not Hamas.
However, the journalist failed in his attempt to create a controversy since Cummins didn’t give him the answer that he wanted.
“I love seeing sports people, seeing their personalities brought out as well. So, no hugely strong thoughts either way,” said Cummins.
Other Pakistan cricketers have also voiced their solidarity with Palestine after Israel continued inhumane attacks on innocent Palestinians.
Men cricketers, who are currently in India for the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, posted Palestine flags on X (formerly Twitter).
All-rounders Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and leg-spinner Usama Mir shared their support for the innocent Palestinians and hoped for peace.
Meanwhile, Australia's top order are working hard to set things right at the World Cup and a batting-friendly wicket like Bengaluru should provide the right platform to score plenty of runs when they play Pakistan on Thursday.
Australia lost their first two matches without crossing 200 runs but won their last game against Sri Lanka to move up to seventh in the standings. However, their top order has failed to get going despite some promising starts.
Marnus Labuschagne is the only Australia batter to score more than 100 runs in the tournament so far and Cummins said it was important they stepped up in Bengaluru, where the team batting first has averaged 335 in the last three ODIs.
"Especially at a venue like here in Bangalore, I dare say it's going to be high-scoring, smaller field. The pitch is always really good here," Cummins told reporters ahead of Friday's game.
"Batting is super important. I think the way the guys started the last game really set the tone. Mitchell (Marsh) and Davey (Warner) up front from the first over taking the game on.
"That's what we want from our players and they're working really hard, they're doing all the right things. I'm sure plenty of runs are around the corner."
Pakistan started the tournament with two wins before losing to India and they sit fourth in the standings.
— Additional input from Reuters
- Pat Cummins
- Mohammad Rizwan
