A video of Pakistani sports commentator Shahnawaz Rana making derogatory remarks about the Somnath temple during a cricket discussion has gone viral on social media and has triggered widespread outrage on various platforms.
Rana, speaking on the YouTube channel Sports Roundup on September 11, said “If you play well, then there’s no reason you can’t defeat them; and I say this with full confidence, because I have criticized this team a lot – all their programs bear witness, and the one sitting with me today, making all sorts of gestures, I keep asking, why is it like this, why is it this way? But listen to me, this is my homeland, this is my team. And this is the team that, at any given moment, can do something like raze the Somnath temple, and at any time, can scale K2. So, never hold the kind of expectations from this team that make you think, “No, they absolutely cannot do it.” It’s possible. That’s the thing,” while attempting to boost confidence ahead of the September 14 India–Pakistan clash.
“The Pakistan cricket team can even demolish the Somnath Temple any time. So, let’s not think this team cannot do anything”. ~ Shahnawaz Rana, a Pakistani cricket analyst on the 2025 Asia Cup.
For them, sports and games are not about the nation but about waging a religious war. pic.twitter.com/8dgKrTR70M
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) September 13, 2025
The comment on razing Somnath temple, widely criticised online, has been labelled as an instance of casual Hinduphobia being normalised in Pakistani cricket commentary.
The controversy comes a year after another Pakistani commentator, Sohrab Barkat, mocked Hindu beliefs during his coverage of the India–South Africa T20 World Cup final, invoking references to the sacred cow and Lord Vishnu.
“Ab gaumata bhi nahi bacha sakti Indians ko, Vishnu bhi niche aa jaye to bhi nahi bacha sakte”
Meet Sohrab Barkat, a Pakistani journalist. Hatred for kafirs is deeply ingrained in their DNA. pic.twitter.com/dFETlLvubE
— BALA (@erbmjha) June 30, 2024
It is noteworthy that Pakistani cricketer Faheem Ashraf also faced backlash for a social media post in the aftermath of India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025. The operation, which targeted terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the killing of 26 civilians in Pahalgam, was seen in India as a symbolic act of justice for widowed women.
Ashraf shared an Instagram post depicting an illustration of a Pakistani soldier applying sindoor to a woman draped in the Indian tricolour, with the caption “New Chapter Begins.” The post was criticised in India as mocking the suffering of women who lost their husbands in terrorist violence.
View this post on Instagram
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
