Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has highlighted that a section of Indian fans assaulted Australian players and their families after Australia’s six-wicket victory over India in the 2023 World Cup final. Pat Cummins-led side completely outplayed the Men In Blue to stun the fully-packed Narendra Modi Stadium.
In a country where cricket is a religion, some were outraged when the Men in Blue were defeated as Indian fans chose to deflate the World Cup. Thousands of supporters in the 100,000-plus-capacity stadium began to leave their seats before the game concluded, a disappointing image following India’s perfect march to the ODI World Cup final.
Salman Butt stated that just because some fans resorted to social media abuse following their team’s failure does not imply that all Indians are the same and added that numerous Indian fans praised Australia for playing better cricket in the final in Ahmedabad.
“If some fans are harassing Australian players and their families on social media, it is not a reflection of all Indians, It is a reflection of a few people who think differently and poorly. This should not be happening. You should applaud the winning team, which I’m sure most Indian fans have done,” Salman Butt said.
Following Australia’s amazing six-wicket win in the final on Sunday night, certain members of the Australian team, as well as journalists and even a New Zealand star, faced vile internet abuse. The player of the match in the final Travis Head after his astounding 137, had his wife Jessica and one-year-old daughter threatened with rape and death comments.
They Have Started Their Preparations Right After The ODI World Cup – Salman Butt
Salman Butt lauded Indian selectors for consistently giving young players opportunities to showcase their skillset at the highest level, which implies that the Men in Blue have already begun their preparations for the T20 World Cup in 2024. Suryakumar Yadav will captain a young Indian team against Australia, with Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya being not part of the squad.
“India are testing their bench strength in this series. They have started their preparations right after the ODI World Cup. You can clearly see their intent to have a backup for every player on the road to the T20 World Cup, which makes a lot of sense,” Salman Butt added.
The Men in Blue will look to be aggressive in T20 cricket as they invested in the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravi Bishnoi, and Tilak Varma in the shorter format of the game and they could be crucial for the team’s chances in 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
