The Pakistani Taliban have warned their country's media to stop praising Indian cricket legend
Cardiospermum halicacabum
Sachin Tendulkar.
The Pakistani Taliban have warned their country's media to stop praising Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who retired this month after a glittering 24-year career.
A
spokesman for the militants said Pakistanis should get behind their
embattled captain Misbah-ul-Haq, even though he was a "substandard and
low-level player".
Newspapers and TV stations across South Asia
have been plastered with tributes to master batsman Tendulkar, who bowed
out on November 16 as the world's leading run-scorer in both Test and
one-day cricket.
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Pakistan and India share one of the fiercest
rivalries in world sport and the near-universal outpouring of praise for
Tendulkar, the only man to score 100 international centuries, was a
rare moment of agreement.
But Shahidullah Shahid, the main
spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said it was time for
Pakistanis to shut up about the "Little Master".
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"There is an
Indian cricket player called Tendulkar. He has been exceedingly praised
by Pakistani media and also praised by a lot of Pakistanis," Shahid said
in a video message, flanked by two masked men with AK-47s.
"Now
someone should tell Pakistani media and other Pakistanis that no matter
how good Tendulkar is, they should not praise him, it is against
Pakistani nationalism and against loyalty to the country."
Misbah regularly comes under fire for his conservative tactics as
captain and sedate batting style, which has earned him the nickname
"Tuk-tuk".
Shahid told media to rein in their criticism -- though he scarcely gave a ringing endorsement of Misbah's leadership.
"No
matter that Misbah-ul-Haq is a substandard and low-level player,
Pakistani media should praise him because he is a Pakistani," Shahid
said in the video published online at the weekend.
Shahid on Thursday confirmed the authenticity of the video to AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. (AFP)
