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Mahant of Hanuman Temple, Ishwardas Maharaj, on Tuesday responded to TMC MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad's criticism of the Indian cricket team's visit to the temple with the T20 World Cup trophy.
Speaking to ANI, Ishwardas Maharaj emphasised that faith is a personal belief, and those who understand it view it from a spiritual perspective, while those who don't will question it. "I want to say... this is our faith, our philosophy. But those who do not understand will question this... The point is that those who do not understand raise various kinds of arguments, while those who do understand view it from the perspective of faith, from a spiritual perspective. The people who are raising this question are asking why the trophy was taken to the temple... The ashram is over 100 years old... Faith is the personal belief of every human being...," he said. The controversy arose after Kirti Azad took to social media to express his discontent, stating that the trophy represents all Indians, not just one faith. He questioned why the trophy was taken to a Hanuman temple, suggesting it should have been taken to a mosque, church, or gurdwara instead. Earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress MP and 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team member Kirti Azad slammed the move of the Indian team leadership group of skipper Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gautam Gambhir and International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah to take the trophy to a Hanuman temple near the venue following their third title win. A clinical Team India made history by securing a record-breaking third T20 World Cup title and becoming the first-ever team to defend the title and win it as a home nation following a brilliant 96-run win over New Zealand at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Following the win, Surya, Gambhir and Jay Shah went to a Hanuman temple near the stadium to seek the blessings of god and took the trophy along. Speaking to the media, Kirti questioned the move, saying that a sportsperson or sport does not belong to any religion or caste. "140 crore people were excited when Team India, which includes people from all religions, won. A sportsperson or sports does not belong to any religion or caste but only to the sport. As a sportsperson, I say Team India made India victorious. Team India won, and this is a matter of pride for the people of India." Earlier on X, Kirti had wrote, "SHAME ON TEAM INDIA! When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team. We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan Why The Hell Is The Indian Cricket Trophy is being Dragged. Why NOT a Mosque? Why NOT a Church? Why NOT a Gurudwara? This Team Represents INDIA -- not Surya Kumar Yadav's or Jay Shah's Family ! Siraj never paraded it at a Mosque. Sanju never took it to a Church. latter had a major part to play and was man of the tournament. The Trophy Belongs to 1.4 BILLION Indians of EVERY Faith -- NOT ONE RELIGION'S VICTORY LAP! #T20WorldCup2026final #IndiaVsNewZealand #TeamIndia". (ANI)
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