Cricketing legend and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting assembled with his team Punjab Kings and performed traditional puja ceremony just ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025. Ponting who took Australia to two World Cup titles and considered one of the greatest the sport has produced was announced as the Head Coach of Punjab Kings in September of 2024. The 50-year-old veteran joined the players, coaches, and support personnel for a puja ceremony in hopes of bringing good fortune and perhaps the maiden, shinning trophy for Punjab Kings franchise. Visuals of the ceremony were captured and shared across social media platforms wherein Ponting led from the front. In the video, the Punjab Kings coach can be seen performing traditional Hindu rituals as the team united to work towards achieving the goal under the new leadership of Shreyas Iyer. Ricky Ponting doing Pooja. ?❤️pic.twitter.com/6BfAt62eOy — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 20, 2025 Cricket fans in Pakistan who stumbled upon the video of the puja ceremony held by the Punjab Kings camp objected to “mixing cricket with religion”. But why? Mohammad Rizwan Offers Namaz Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan found himself in a spot when he celebrated his stunning hundred by offering Namaz (Islamic prayer) during a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Hyderabad in 2023 Cricket World Cup. A Delhi-based lawyer, named Vineet Jindal, objected to this and complained to the ICC Chairman Greg Barclay. In the lengthy letter to the ICC chief, Jindal noted that Rizwan’s act of offering Namaz on the cricket pitch was “intentional depiction of his religion” and felt it was against the spirit of the game. Also Read: Elon Musk Wants To Ship Humans To Mars. Is The Science On Rocketman’s Side? “keeping the spirit of sports alive, Advocate Vineet Jindal filed complaint against Mohammed Rizwan, Wicket keeper and batsman of the Pakistan Cricket team for offering “namaz” during Cricket match on 6th Oct’2023 with International Cricket Council. Copy of the complaint also sent to ICC Ethics Committee,BCCI and PCB, (sic)” Jindal posted on his official ‘X’ account. “This very act of the player raises questions about the spirit of the match and raises a question of the ideology, the player follows while playing the match. The act of displaying his religion by Mohammed Rizwan purposefully depicts his intent to message that he is a Muslim, defeating the spirit of sports. Rizwan was seen offering prayers amid the field while his teammates were waiting for the drinks during the break,” the complaint read. Ahmed Shehzad Slams Rizwan In 2024, Pakistani batter Ahmed Shehzad hit out at Rizwan for playing “religion card” after team’s forgetful T20 World Cup 2024 outing. “I think that every person is a brand ambassador for two things. If he is a Muslim, he represents Islam wherever he goes in the world. Secondly, he’s a brand ambassador of Pakistan. What people say, we don’t care about that,” Rizwan had said. In response to this, Shehzad wrote a lengthy ‘X’ post asking Rizwan which religion taught to lie about fitness and do acting on the field. Also Read: Ahmed Shehzad Slams PCB For Allowing Players To Participate In International Leagues “It is really disappointing that some players are hiding their poor performance in the World Cup by holding unnecessary press conferences and playing the religion card. Where does religion go when they lie about their fitness and when they admit they were acting on the field? Does religion teach you to deceive others and lie in the field? You are paid to perform on the field, and you join the team instead. Religion teaches us to fulfil our responsibilities with full determination and not to lie about our suffering. Imam-ul-Haq On Rizwan During the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a video of Imam-ul-Haq raised plenty eyebrows when he spoke of Rizwan, the leader. But the qualities he noted of Rizwan had very little to do with cricket itself. Imam shared that Rizwan helped his players with Namaz during tours, created WhatsApp group for Namaz timings, and restricted non-Muslim staff in players’ rooms. Other Captains: Make strategy, enforce discipline, decide practice timings, make sure everyone is focused on next game. Pakistan Captain Maulana Mohammad Rizwan: – Find a room for Namaz in hotel. – BAN NON MUSLIMS FROM ENTERING THE ROOM.– Spread white sheets in room for… pic.twitter.com/3IjlCKkRuz — Incognito (@Incognito_qfs) February 26, 2025 Also Read: Shaheen Shah Afridi: From Beloved Premier Pacer to Pakistan’s Most Memed Cricketer Social Media Response To Puja Ceremony Seeing their own players getting constantly ridiculed and summoned for practicing their religion on or off the field, Pakistan cricket fans objected to the “hypocrisy” of the world that did not bat an eye when it was a non-Pakistan cricketer engaging in religious activities. “i thought mixing religion with cricket was wrong and totally uethetical (sic),” wrote one user. “They go crazy when Rizwan goes to the mosque,” noted another while quoting the video on ‘X’. Shame on Muhammad Rizwan for mixing sports and religion…!!! pic.twitter.com/2y6mGHVYRS — Nawaz ?? (@Rnawaz31888) March 20, 2025 “But they cried when Rizwan gave Hayden a Quran with translation lol. Wonder what happens to “don’t mix religion with cricket” when it’s to do with their religion.” “Aap kare to Religion hum kare to ‘Mixing Sports with Religion’,” another added.