The Pakistani cricket team had a warm-up drill as soon as they landed at the Canberra airport, no straight drive to their hotel. While a video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board showed players jetting off to Sydney in a luxurious Emirates flight, the reality on the ground wasn’t as jazzy.
Players were seen carrying their trolley full of heavy suitcases and kits in a truck. With no official in sight from either the Pakistan or Australian embassy to receive the squad, it was wicket-keeper and batsman Mohammad Rizwan who did all the heavy lifting. In the video, a fan is also heard asking for a picture with one of the players even as they struggle to load their luggage.
Rizwan was also praised by many on the internet for his ‘positive’ attitude while loading luggage. He obliged fans and posed for selfies, which many are calling “humble”.
“Rizwan bhai nein he poori team ka samaan load kiya hai mashaa allah, (Rizwan loaded the entire team’s luggage),” a fan said in the video.
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Humility of Pakistani cricketers
Team member Wasim Wazir is also seen helping Rizwan.
Former team captain Babar Azam was seen wearing sunglasses, serious and deep in thought while arriving at Canberra airport.
While some applauded the humility of the men in green, others pointed out the sheer lack of acknowledgement by the hosts, Australia as well as the mismanagement of the PCB. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited the Pakistani squad to the PM House next week.
An X user said there is a difference between being humble and being forced to do something under compulsion.
However, Geo News Journalist Arfa Zake refuted claims of mismanagement. He noted that staff was deployed at the airport but the Pakistani cricketers took the initiative and chose to arrange the luggage in the truck.
“This shows the humbleness of Pakistani cricketers. There was nowhere mismanagement in the protocol of Pakistan Cricket Team by the staff of Sydney Airport,” he wrote on X.
Peshawar-based journalist Khushnood Ali Khan also said, “There is nothing wrong in it, apna Kam khud Karo that’s it.”
One X user reminded the Australian officials of the treatment their team got in Pakistan. “This is disrespectful from cricket Australia. Remember the presidential protocol given by PCB to Australian team,” they said.