The players of the Indian cricket mean's team had not shaken hands with the Pakistan players after their Asia Cup fixtures earlier this year. Hollywood actor, Kumail Nanjiani has expressed how he felt about it.
The actor said that what the Indian players did, was shameful and hampered the spirit of the sport.
Kumail Nanjiani, now one of Hollywood's popular faces, has Pakistani roots. He was born in Pakistan's Karachi on May 2, 1978. During a conversation with comedian Hasan Minhaj on his YouTube channel, the actor opened up about the Asia Cup incident where Indian cricketers did not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts after a match, in protest to the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
The incident had led to several debates and discussions. While some praised India's move, others criticised it as they believed politics was meddling with the spirit of the game.
Kumail, while talking about the relations between the two countries on and off the pitch said, "I think what was cool about India-Pakistan matches, which isn’t so true anymore – one, we were two of the best teams in the world, now Pakistan is not that great and India is the best team in the world. India-Pakistan matches are very tough for me… But also, the big thing about the India-Pakistan matches was that our countries did not get along but the people did. We are the same people, the same culture, the same language. So when we played cricket, you really felt the similarities rather than the differences and I feel like there was a brotherhood vibe to India-Pakistan matches".
Hasan Minhaj went on to ask the actor if there was a growing hatred when it comes to India-Pakistan matches. Kumail said, "It was not hatred. There was real respect. Those players respected each other and were friends with each other. There would be heated whatever… But I remember watching these matches that yeah, we are all the same people. I never felt like those teams did not like each other. It is different now".
The conversation steered to the controversial handshake incident at this year's Asia Cup. "India refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team and I find that to be such a shame because sport is the one time when we can actually put everything aside and play… Really respect each other that we are equal. And the lack of handshake really was very sad", Kumail Nanjiani shared.
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