Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq is again in the news for making sexist remarks on the Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar which has cost him severe bullies and backlashes on social media, especially the micro-blogging site Twitter. The incident took place on Neo News, during a live telecast where Razzaq shared undignified words about Dar’s appearance.
In a video cut from G Sarkar with NaumanIjaz broadcast June 6 on Neo News, former cricket all-rounder Abdul Razzaq remarked on Dar’s appearance, emphatically suggesting that the cricketer looks more like a man than a lady. The clasp as of late grabbed the eye and rage of social media.
“She aspires to come to the level of the men’s cricket team and believes that men aren’t the only ones who can do everything, women can do these things as well,” Razzaq said and further added, “That’s why the feeling is gone. Shake her hands and you won’t even feel she’s a girl.”
He proceeded to say that women cricketers try to be on a similar level as their male counterparts and surprisingly expressed that Dar’s hands don’t feel like that of a woman. “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 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 blabbed out on the show.
Razzaq’s remarks are stunning, however, tragically they aren’t something women athletes haven’t heard previously. There are profoundly set negative perspectives towards the assemblages of women athletes from one side of the world to the other however particularly in Pakistan where ladies are policed to look a specific way overall.
Nida Dar is the first Pakistani female cricketer to take 100 wickets in T20Is. The way all people here attacking her is so disturbing. More power to Nida Dar! She managed to remain calm and composed. pic.twitter.com/UrVp0FAuBy
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) July 15, 2021
Dar bore Razzaq’s remark with a ton of elegance and poise — undeniably more than what anyone would have had in a similar circumstance. She clarified why women cricketers appear to be more ‘hardened’ than other women and also emphasized the kind of rigorous training programs that they are subjected to obey duly.
“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 Nida Dar.
In the interview, one of the host comedians likewise kidded about how the cricketer appeared to be hypersensitive and quoted her as “allergic” to the thought of marriage since she didn’t make reference to it. Albeit, Dar had said earlier in the show, “If I hadn’t been a cricketer, I would have definitely been a (sports) professional of some sort.”
This isn’t the first run-through that the male cricketers have offered chauvinist comments. In 2017, cricketer and former coach Waqar Younis was called out for ‘suggesting’ on Twitter that the Women’s World Cup matches ought to have just 30 overs as the standard 50 were “a few too many”.
In 2019, cricketer Shahid Afridi met with analysis after he conceded in his autobiography came to Changer’ that he will not allow his girls to play outdoor sports. “It’s for social and religious reasons that I’ve made this decision regarding my daughters not competing in public sporting activities and their mother agrees with me,” he wrote in his book.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to Abdul Razzaq and Nida Dar incident:
So disgusting all these people literally jumped on her. Can't even imagine how much sexism our women cricketers go through @CoolNidadar is a star!! https://t.co/iraupnQCsn
— 🐢 (@aisaykaise) July 14, 2021
Always knew Abdul Razzaq was sexist af. This is despicable. He kept on saying sexist stuff about Nida Dar being "manly" and "inki shaadi nai hoti" & everyone else kept laughing.
This is what our women cricketers have to face constantly in this society. https://t.co/7XRaRC9MMH— Ali (@Bhuut_) July 14, 2021
In my mind I am having a breakdown on live TV, I am screaming at Abdul Razzak and all three of them for cornering Nida like that with their sexist and misogynist BS. https://t.co/UEXiKZdzcK
— ماھم (@kiyamusibathai) July 14, 2021
Abdul Razzaq they player was awesome
Abdul Razzaq post retirement in front of a microphone isn't
Someone needs to tell him he isn't funny https://t.co/gwcqfizFHl
— Hasaan Saeed (@HasaanSaeed) July 14, 2021
You became a world class all rounder but your mentality stayed there from where you started your career. Pathetic of you to ridicule a Pakistani star on national TV. Sexism and sense of humour('_') at their peak. https://t.co/urGwnCcmNI
— Haris Malik (@f__ranky) July 14, 2021
Shameful ridicule of a young cricket player by Abdul Razzaq. When you have played for the national team & have some level of respect, you should use that to encourage young cricketers, especially women, instead of shaming them based on gender stereotypes.pic.twitter.com/CtemldIcNb
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) July 14, 2021
Nida Dar should have slammed these people right there. The saddest part is lady in pink was just as complicit as others. Who gives Razzak the right to make fun of a junior just because she's a woman? Imagine what would have been the reaction if it was the other way around. https://t.co/muLKpD6kZy
— Ariba Jalbani Murtaza (@AribaJB) July 15, 2021
Nida Dar is one of Pakistan's finest cricketers. Abdul Razzaq and these others gang up to try to reduce her to marriage, hairstyles and femininity. Shows that women can be national heroes but will still be measured up against traditional societal expectations and gender roles. https://t.co/iX9eKiNQdI
— Shiza Malik (@Shiza__Malik) July 15, 2021
Abdul Razzaq telling Nida Dar she looks manly is exactly the reason why I have grown up with body image issues. I have severe trauma from body shaming and these cheap people are the reason why we are still in that frame of mind and get conscious. Atleast I do. He should apologis
— Sehr Rushmeen (@rushmeentweets) July 14, 2021
Way to go Nida dar 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 https://t.co/TQY7Cte7g2
— madeha naqvi (@madehanaqvi) July 15, 2021
Unfortunate that a cricketer of Nida Dar’s status is ridiculed so blatantly on TV screen. If Pakistan can’t honour cricketers like her please send them to India.
— Ashutosh Deshmukh (@ashutoshdesh) July 15, 2021
I find this assault sick I’m sorry Nida Dar. You do you! This country doesn’t deserve trailblazers like you.. https://t.co/LD9Cuz5Ynd
— Typowaala (@hamzamjad) July 15, 2021
In 2016, I went to see Pakistan's women's team play England in Chelmsford. Nida Dar played so well young England supporters were lining up for her autograph.
This month she made the record for the highest T20 wickets among men or women, and we are shaming her for her hairstyle? pic.twitter.com/sxKR6lBuwN— Shiza Malik (@Shiza__Malik) July 15, 2021
