Banners demanding former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's release were spotted over New York during the mega clash between India and Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Neighbouring nations and arch-nemesis India and Pakistan clashed in the 19th clash of the T20 tournament on Sunday, June 9, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The rain-delayed game saw Pakistan skipper Babar Azam winning the toss and inviting the inaugural T20 champions to put score on board first.
Just when Indian openers and star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came into bat, a banner was spotted flying above the stadium. The banner attached to a plane had ‘Release Imran Khan’ written over it. Not only this, but a few other clips also showed the banner being displayed during the national anthems. Needless to say, the incident went grabbed many eyeballs and several clips started doing rounds on social media post.
For the unversed, former Pakistan PM and cricket team captain Imran Khan was arrested on January 9, 2024, in a case related to the attack on the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi on May 9, 2023. Not only this, but in the same month, he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment on charges of leaking state secrets. Before it, the 1992 World Cup winning captain was already serving a three-year jail term on a corruption case.
Coming back to the match, the highly anticipated clash between former T20 World Cup winners saw a delayed start due to rain. Shortly after the commencement of the first innings, covers were once again brought on. As of writing, India had scored 8 runs in one over.