World Cup 2019: Sona Mohapatra blasts Tarek Fatah for criticising Sarfaraz Ahmed’s attire at the opening ceremony

Playback singer Sona Mohapatra has leaped in defence of Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed who is being criticized by many for wearing salwar kameez while visiting the Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth before the ICC World Cup opening ceremony. There have been mixed reaction on Sarfaraz’s attire. While many lauded the Pakistan skipper for backing his tradition and culture, many have also criticised him for the same.

While 9 other captains including those of India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan met Queen Elizabeth dressed in western attires, Sarfaraz decided against it. The wicketkeeper-batsman, whose predecessor Mishab-ul-Haq had donned coat and pant during the captains’ meet of the last week, sprung a big surprise this year. Quite a number of fans and eminent personalities were just not impressed by the Pakistan star’s dress code and one of them was Tarek Fatah, noted journalist and author.

Mr Fatah took to Twitter to criticise Sarfaraz for meeting the Queen in pyjamas. Taking a cheeky dig at Sarfaraz, Tarah wrote, “Captains of #Cricket playing nations competing 4 the #CricketWorldCup had a photoshoot with the Queen. Guess who came dressed in his pyjamas? None other than the #Pakistan captain (back row, left). Take a look at him in the other pic. How does one country produce …? #CricketWC.

“Every other captain, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, South Africa, NewZealand, West Indies & Zimbabwe is smartly turned out in jacket & tie, but no, not the Pakistani. No sir, not him. I’m surprised he didn’t come in his Lungi-Banyan-Topi costume. How does …?,” he added.

However, Tarek’s comment did not go down well with Indian singer Sona Mohapatra as she advised him to shed the colonial thinking, writing, “What’s wrong with Pajamas, chudidaars, dhotis? Authentic, true to our sub-continents roots. No need to suck up or shadow the colonial masters & of yore & their sartorial choices Mr Fatah.”

Sarfaraz brushes aside criticism

The Pakistan captain, meanwhile, himself defended his decision to wear the traditional attire after facing backlash from several quarters.

“The salwar kameez is our national dress and I got instructions from the board to do all these things so I tried to promote our national dress. I felt very proud that the other captains were wearing suits but I was wearing national dress,” Sarfaraz had said before Pakistan’s World Cup-opener.