Wearing military caps on the eve of PSL final

Sports beyond politics: ISPR

By Muhammad Anis

Ag Agencies

RAWALPINDI: Referring to a campaign on the social media inspiring cricket fans to wear military caps on the eve of Pakistan Super League (PSL) final, Director General ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor Thursday said sports were beyond politics.

"Sports are beyond politics and we believe that our bondage is beyond such gestures alone," he said in a tweet message.

At the same time, Major General Asif Ghafoor said the armed forces humbly acknowledge their love and support.

"Dear Pakistanis u are desirous of wearing military style caps and shirts during the PS final. Pak Armed Forces humbly acknowledge your love and support," he said.

It’s to be pointed out that India dragged politics in cricket when their national cricket team players wore military caps during the third match of one-day international which they lost thanks to Usman Khawaja's hard-hitting century.

Agencies add: Meanwhile, General Ghafoor won the Internet when he trolled the Indian cricket team following their 3-2 thrashing at the hands of Australia. For India, the recently concluded ODI series against Australia has been nothing less than a nightmare.

The series came against the backdrop of India blaming Pakistan for the Pulwama attack and then crossing the Line of Control into the Pakistani airspace. This was followed by an aerial dogfight between the two countries, in which Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian aircraft and captured a pilot, who was then released as a peace gesture. India's warmongering did not just end there. After the Indian leadership's lies about supposed casualties in the Balakot airstrike were debunked by their very own analysts and the international community, the Indian cricket team decided to wear army caps during the third ODI against Australia to honour the soldiers killed in the February 14 attack. Now while some people, and mind you, only a fraction of the nationalists saw that as a befitting tribute, others called them out for mixing politics with sports.

But there was one individual who stood head and shoulders above all in trolling the Indian team: Major General Asif Ghafoor. A simple “Well played Usman Khawaja” appeared on the military spokesperson's personal Twitter account after the Pakistan-born Australian batsman smashed 104 in the third ODI.

A few days later, this was followed by: “Well played again Usman Khawaja”, after the batsman scored 91 as Australia beat India again in the fourth ODI.

But it was yesterday when Major General Ghafoor brought the house down with his tweet: “Very well played yet again Usman Khawaja. Your 100 at excellent STRIKE rate made the difference. You gave excellent performance during last three consecutive ODI contests to CAP the series.”

Khawaja hit yet another century in the fifth and final ODI to give Australia a series win over India. Well, what can we say, Major General Ghafoor does love his cricket.