London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) said that it was disappointed when planes carrying political messages were seen flying over the Headinlgy Cricket Ground, Leeds where India is facing Sri Lanka of the final league game of the the ICC World Cup.
The banners were highly critical of India and read “Justice for Kashmir” and “India Stop Genocide & Free Kashmir”. Two planes carrying the messages on a banner and tied behind the planes flew over the stadium where the game was progressing. These political sloganeering against India by pro-Pakistan groups did not go down well with the ICC.
This is the second such incident when planes carrying pro-Pakistan messages were flown over stadiums. The first incident occurred during the Pakistan and Afghanistan match.
The ICC in a statement said, “We are incredibly disappointed this has happened again. We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. Throughout the tournament, we have worked with local police forces around the country to prevent this type of protests occurring. After the previous incident, we were assured by West Yorkshire Police there would not be repeat of this issue, so we are very dissatisfied it has happened again.”
Sri Lanka which won the toss opted to bat scoring 264 runs after losing 7 wickets. Indian innings is progressing and has secured 152 runs in 25 overs. Rohit Sharma and Rahul have both scored half century.
