Showbiz starlet Sidra Niazi responds to the backlash that came her way after the actor confessed that she has no favourites in the playing XI of the Pakistan Cricket Team.

Appearing on a local TV channel show, actress Sidra Niazi asserted that she has no favourite player in the current cricket team of Pakistan. “Not at all, I don’t even have a single favourite [in the current playing XI of PCT],” Niazi said, adding similar thoughts for star batter and former skipper Babar Azam.

“There must be a reason to like them and have them as favourites. They have not given me a single reason to do so.” While a number of social users gave their agreement to her statement, as expected, it also invited backlash and trolling from cricket fans on social media. However, unfazed by the trolls and critics, the ‘Sukoon’ actor took to her Instagram stories and noted, “These days it is so difficult to express yourself freely. You can’t discuss religion without offending someone, you can’t share your opinion on politics without being labelled or attacked and now it seems you can’t voice your thoughts on cricket without facing backlash.” She continued, “The real issue isn’t trolls who abuse you, your parents and family, it’s upbringing and mindset that enable such behaviour.”

“A society where people are afraid to speak their minds, where constructive discussion on any topic is impossible, where the loudest, abusive and aggressive voices dominate the narrative,” Niazi added. In the end, she reflected that it is a ‘worrying trend’. “We need to pause and reflect on the kind of society we want to build,” she concluded.