Members of the Indian national cricket team continued their celebrations of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup triumph by visiting the Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai on Saturday, even as their earlier visit to the temple had sparked a debate following comments by former cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav, along with ICC president Jay Shah, had earlier visited the temple with the trophy in Ahmedabad after the victory and offered prayers despite the controversy surrounding the previous visit.Kirti Azad questions temple visit
The debate began after Kirti Azad criticized the team’s decision to take the trophy to a temple, arguing that the World Cup victory belonged to all Indians regardless of their religion.
“140 million people were excited when the Indian team won, which includes people of all religions. An athlete or a sport does not belong to any religion or caste, but only to the sport,” Azad said.
“Why not a mosque? Why not a church? Why not a gurudwara? The trophy belongs to 1.4 billion Indians of all religions, not to the victory of any religion,” he added.
Harbhajan Singh slams Azad’s comments
Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh came down heavily on Azad’s comments, accusing him of unnecessarily politicizing the issue.
“It’s absurd that someone is politicizing players taking the trophy to a temple. Kirti himself is a former cricketer, so I didn’t expect him to say such a thing. Maybe he is prioritizing politics more and has forgotten that he is a sportsman,” Harbhajan said.
“I expected more because when you undertake such a big task, the reward should be even bigger. But congratulations to the team for showing everyone how powerful India is,” he added.
Gambhir also defends the team’s celebration
Gautam Gambhir also defended the team’s actions, saying the controversy was unnecessary and risked overshadowing the players’ achievements.
“This question is not even worth answering. It is a great moment for the entire country and we should celebrate the winners of the World Cup,” Gambhir said in a conversation with ANI.
“If you want to dilute the achievements of those 15 players and their efforts, tomorrow anyone can make any statement and we will start taking it seriously. That’s not fair to the guys.”
“The guys have been through a lot of pressure. If you make those statements today, you are degrading your own players and your own team.”
The players ignore the controversy
Meanwhile, Indian batsman Ishan Kishan dismissed questions about the controversy and urged the media to focus on the team’s historic achievement.
“Winning the World Cup is a great thing. You guys should ask good questions. What can I say about what Kirti Azad said? Please ask good questions to make it enjoyable,” Kishan said.