Shoaib Malik incites controversy after his comments on Mohammed Shami

The eight edition of ICC Champions Trophy is just 5 days away. Pakistan has never found success in this tournament and are desperate to win the Trophy this year. Under the leadership of Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan is very much confident ahead of the tournament. They had arrived at the venue a long time before so as to start preparations at the earliest.

Coach Mickey Arthur said that he is focusing a lot on fielding and fitness of the team. No player is allowed to don the green jersey unless he is found fully fit and raring to go. Umar Akmal was dropped from the squad because he was found unfit. Before the men in green took on Bangladesh in a warm-up match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) organized a Question & Answer session with the Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik.

Shami is the best Indian bowler

The event was organized on Twitter and the fans had a great chance to ask anything and everything to Malik. Some fan named Baquer Ali asked Malik “Who is the best bowler in India?” Shoaib said Mohammed Shami is the best bowler from India. Shami is a West Bengal-based bowler and is a part of the Indian squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Things were smooth till here, as the word ‘best’ is variable. But the matter heated up when Shoaib said that he is choosing Shami not because he is Muslim. Fans were instigated at this remark from the all-rounder. Malik is the husband of Indian tennis player Sania Mirza. Fans felt it was not at all necessary to justify his reason for choosing Shami as the best Indian bowler. They felt these kinds of statements may instigate controversy. Malik later clarified in another video that everyone playing for the Indian team is a good friend of him.

Here is the video of Malik and some tweets regarding his answer

.@Baquerali2 #AskShoaib pic.twitter.com/mQdF1Zp6jH

— ICC (@ICC) May 26, 2017

@ICC @Baquerali2 Would ve agreed with him had he not entered religion on it. No need to get into religion to express ur fav.

— Avhilash Adhikari☆ (@Wild_Material) May 26, 2017

@ICC @Baquerali2 He is not muslim guy.. He is a Indian! Abe Gadhe @realshoaibmalik

— Rahul Sinha (@BeingRahulSinha) May 26, 2017

@ICC @Baquerali2 'Not because he is a Muslim guy'??
Totally unnecessary..

— Anshuman Jha (@anshumanjha_98) May 26, 2017

@anshumanjha_98 @ICC @Baquerali2 Statements like this are unwanted and unwarranted. Reason why people get instigated!

— Roshan Todi (@roshantodi) May 26, 2017

@ICC @Baquerali2 Don't drag religion into sports..
As a senior player maintain some standard??@MirzaSania teach him something

— Dhanush? (@dhanu_nm) May 27, 2017

@ICC @Baquerali2 When you justify a statement you made,which noone asked a justification for,you only expose yourself and your thinking n reasoning behind it

— vivek (@vivek_cool) May 27, 2017