Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Lahore Qalandars erupted controversy with a tasteless tweet that attempted to make fun of India and its armed forces. Qalandars posted a pic of their player Hussain Talat on the social media website and wrote: "Ye tu 'Tea is Fantastic' hogya". In the pic, Hussain can be seen sipping tea from a cup. The comment 'Tea is Fantastic' was used in reference to Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's words when he was asked by the Pakistani army about the taste of the tea after he was captured. This incident took place three years ago, after the Pulwama attack, when Indian airforce shot down Pakistan's fighter planes. Abhinandan was captured eventually after his aircraft crashed in Pakistan and later was held captive by Pakistan army for less than 3 days. The Pakistani army had then released a video in which they served tea to Abhinandan and his 'Tea was fantastic' reply had gone viral on the internet instantly.
In that video, Abhinandan, looked fearless and confident even if he was being held captive. The 'Tea was fantastic' comment was his way to tell his motherland that he was fine. However, a section of Pakistani internet, which thrives on anti-India propaganda, brings the comment up on social media every now and then to take a dig at the neighbours. The cricket fans in India were quite surprised to see a respected PSL side like Lahore Qalandars also taking the same route.
Check out Qalandar's tweet below and also strong reactions by Indian fans:
"Tea is fantastic" should make us prouder, our wing commander destroyed their F16 , which was sent as answer to our attacks on a terror camp with a mere mig-21 and drank some tea and come back with pride! https://t.co/WGq48gBHrn
— Akash Deshpande (@akashd7781) February 17, 2023
India has decided to isolate Pakistan in international cricket for the political issues, and it looks as though this won't change anytime soon.
— Vijay Arumugam (@vijayarumugam) February 18, 2023
If this disappointing comment is anything to go by, the Pakistanis aren't keen to revive cricket ties with India anytime soon, as well. https://t.co/MuwWDthMBE
Have always maintained that sports and art have the power & responsibility to bring people closer and unite people, but such tweets act in the exact opposite manner and do far more harm than what they can imagine. Surprised that this tweet is still up. https://t.co/eiVraZHXsD
— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) February 17, 2023
Some Indian fans are even more surprised by the fact that even after being told that this was a distasteful tweet, Qalandars have not deleted it. "India has decided to isolate Pakistan in international cricket for the political issues, and it looks as though this won't change anytime soon. If this disappointing comment is anything to go by, the Pakistanis aren't keen to revive cricket ties with India anytime soon, as well," wrote an Indian cricket fan.
For the unversed, India and Pakistan do not play each other in bilateral series anymore. The last such series happened in 2012. Since then, India and Pakistan meet in International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) events but not in a bilateral series. This is due to the ever-growing list of political issues between the two countries. The Pakistani players are not allowed to play in Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League (WPL).
The two cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are currently at loggerheads on matter of hosting rights of Asia Cup 2023. The hosting rights are with Pakistan but BCCI secratary Jay Shah has maintained his stance that India will never go to Pakistan without Indian government's permission.
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