NO RELIGION IN THE GAME,PLEASE!!!!!

At the fascinating end of the twenty-20 world cup,that is what shoaib mallik told"I m grateful to all pakistani and muslims all over the world for their unequivocal support to his team".i may not be quoting his exact statement(as i couldnot remember it),but this is very nearer to what he actually said.it was received with great discomfort(esp. in india).indians pride themselves in not dragging religion in game(or for that matter anything) and we want to maintain our stellar success in that area.our outrage against the mallik statement was completely justified. this type of statement is least expected from player who is representing his country at the highest level of game.shoaib mallik justification that religiously defined identity can be culturally articulated is not at all convincing. even"freudian slip" is unforgivable(in such case).to say that mallik ,perhaps overcome by defeat faltered in alien tongue is not acceptable,he could have use his mother tongue and can avail the service of telepromoter .to make the matter worse shahid afridi said he would like to "congratulate all of the indian nation".although ,the meaning of the sentence is not clear at all,if we go strictly by the meaning of the sentence,it wold come like dividing whole world between india and pakistan.if it means something else(like congratulating indian),then we welcome it,although we castigate them for their linguistic faux pas.shoaib mallik steep rise from newcomer to the skipper leaves me nothing to tell about his cricketing achievement.both are affable and friendly guy,still their comments were totally unwarranted and unacceptable.