Abdul Razzaq is not new to making controversial remarks and has often found himself garnering headlines for all the wrong reasons for his absurd remarks. The former Pakistan all-rounder is being slammed on social media once again after a clip of his recent interview on a Pakistani channel went viral. Razzaq made some sexist remarks against Pakistan women’s cricket team star Nida Dar on the show.
Dar and Razzaq were both present as guests on a show on Pakistani news channel Neo News where the topic of discussion was women in sports. Razzaq casually made some sexist comments about Dar’s appearance and her future in the sport after the latter spoke about her passion for the game and how she would have still opted to become an athlete if she wasn’t a cricketer today.
Razzaq said women’s cricketers like Dar aspire to be on the same level as the men’s cricketers and want to prove that they can do everything. He then went on to make an extremely absurd comment as he stated that Dar’s hands don’t even feel feminine and that female cricketers lose interest in marriage till the time they succeed in the sport.
“Their field is as such. When they become cricketers, they strive to be as equal as their male counterparts, if not better than them. They want to prove that not only men, but they can also do it as well. The feeling [to get married] is gone [by the time they excel. If you shake her hands, you won’t even feel she’s a girl,” Razzaq said on the show.
The former Pakistan all-rounder was slammed left, right, and center for his misogynist remarks as fans lashed out at him for ‘humiliating Dar, who is one of the finest cricketers in the country at present.
Dar had a perfect response to Razzaq’s comments on her hands and her appearance as she explained as a cricketer, they have to undergo similar sort of training as men and work out with the same intensity to ensure they can be on top of their game on the field. Dar’s response was hailed by many on Twitter.
“Our profession is such that we have to do batting, bowling and every other thing [that the sport requires] which needs fitness, so yes your body does become hard. If I hadn’t been a cricketer, I would have definitely been a [sports] professional of some sort,” said Dar.
34-year-old Dar had made her international debut for Pakistan in 2010 and is one of the most experienced players in the team. She has played 80 ODIs and 108 T20Is for the country, picking up a total of 175 wickets across formats. She has also scored 1150 and 1207 runs in the two formats respectively.
