With COVID 19 killing more than 5,400 people worldwide, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, popularly known as Rawalpindi Express in the cricketing world, took on China stating that China was alone responsible for the outbreak of the epidemic.
“I don’t understand why you have to eat things like bats, drink their blood and urine and spread some virus across the globe…I’m talking about the Chinese people. They have put the world at stake. I really don’t understand how you can eat bats, dogs, and cats. I’m really angry,” Akhtar said in a video posted on his Youtube channel.
Watch Shoaib Akhtar Speaking On Coronavirus:
“The whole world is at risk now. The tourism industry has been hit, the economy is badly affected and the whole world is going towards a lockdown. I’m not against the people of China but I’m against the law of animals. I understand this may be your culture but this is not benefiting you now, it is killing humanity. I’m not saying you boycott the Chinese but there has to be some law. You cannot go on and eat anything and everything,” he added.
Coronavirus, which originated in the Wuhan area of China, has so far spread to over 100 countries, infecting more than 1,30,000 individuals. In Pakistan, on Saturday the number of detected cases reached 28.
The disease that has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has affected numerous sports activities, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Although the IPL 2020, originally scheduled to begin on March 29, was postponed until April 15, PSL’s playoff stage was curtailed and will be played behind closed doors. The cumulative number of confirmed cases of coronavirus across India has gone past 80 though two people have lost their lives because of the deadly disease.
There will be no playoffs in PSL and the top four teams will now play semi-finals and then the final on 17 and 18 March. The final was initially set for 22 March. “I’ve also heard that IPL has been postponed till April 15. The hotel industries, travel industries, broadcasters everything will incur losses because of this,” he said.
The former Pakistan pacer also called on the world authorities to come up with a new animal health regulation, so that in the future these diseases do not resurface.
