New York (USA): A private plane carrying a tailing placard saying “Release Imran Khan” created a flutter among the 30000 and more fans as it flew past the Nassau County Cricket stadium on Sunday just when India opened its innings against Pakistan in the big-ticket event of the T20 World Cup.
Legendary Pakistani cricketer and former Prime Minister, Khan has been in jail since August 5, 2023, and has been heard or seen seldom with a strict security cordon around him.
Private planes making political statements flying over cricketing venues have long plagued the ICC with the activists getting free air space and an opportunity for worldwide publicity without a dime being spent.
In England's World Cup in 2019, it was all about Palestine and Kashmir continuously streaked the skies over most stadiums, especially in big-ticket matches. The ICC tried its level best to stop the intrusions and keep the sport free of any political grandstanding but failed to do so with the air space not being closed by the UK Government.
No such events took place during any of the World Cup 2023 matches held in India and the only breaches were of the fan nature – a Rohit Sharma fan running into the ground, getting patted by him and being taken away by the police all in good humour.
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