By Amir Khan
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 15: AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan said that International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah should have also visited the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai with India's T20 World Cup trophy after taking it to the renowned Siddhivinayak temple in Dadar. He asserted that it would have set an example of secularism and sent a positive message across the nation.
The AIMIM leader said the Indian team's victory in the World Cup was a collective effort.
"Look, the fact that India won is a matter of great joy. We all offered our prayers, the players performed exceptionally well, and consequently, India won and secured the trophy," Pathan told ANI.
"Jay Shah is taking the trophy inside a temple. This victory was, after all, a collective team effort. My personal wish would have been for him to take the trophy to the Haji Ali Dargah--which was closer to Siddhivinayak--or to the Ajmer Dargah. Doing so would have set an example of secularism and sent a positive message across the nation; that is what should have been done," he added.
His remarks come after Jay Shah, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, and skipper Surya Kumar Yadav visited Siddhivinayak temple with India's T20 World Cup trophy on Saturday.
The Men in Blue beat New Zealand by 96 runs on March 8 to successfully defend their T20 World Cup title. The victory made India the first team to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, the first to win consecutive titles after their 2024 win, and the first to lift the trophy three times (2007, 2024, and 2026).
Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kirti Azad also slammed the move of the Indian team leadership group to take the trophy to the Hanuman temple near Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
In a post on X, Kirti said, "SHAME ON TEAM INDIA! When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team. We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan Why The Hell Is The Indian Cricket Trophy is being Dragged. Why NOT a Mosque? Why NOT a Church? Why NOT a Gurudwara? This Team Represents INDIA -- not Surya Kumar Yadav's or Jay Shah's Family ! Siraj never paraded it at a Mosque. Sanju never took it to a Church. latter had a major part to play and was man of the tournament. The Trophy Belongs to 1.4 BILLION Indians of EVERY Faith -- NOT ONE RELIGION'S VICTORY LAP! #T20WorldCup2026final #IndiaVsNewZealand
#TeamIndia".
Azad was a member of the Cricket World Cup-winning team in 1983.
Reacting to Azad's criticism, former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh said Azad's remarks were surprising, adding that as a former cricketer, he should not make such statements and that the TMC MP may be prioritising politics over sportsmanship.
Singh is also the Rajya Sabha MP from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
"It's absurd that someone is politicising the players taking the trophy to a temple. Kirti himself is a former cricketer, so I didn't expect him to say such a thing. Perhaps he's prioritising politics more and has forgotten he's a sportsman," Singh said.