A Pakistani cricket commentator who abruptly left India earlier this week has denied that she was requested to depart the nation.

Zainab Abbas, who was masking the Cricket World Cup, left on Monday after a backlash over her previous social media posts that allegedly mocked India and the Hindu faith.

Abbas mentioned she felt “intimidated and scared” by the web reactions.

She additionally apologised to individuals who had been offended by the posts.

“I understand and deeply regret the hurt caused by the posts that were circulated. I wish to make clear that they do not represent my values or who I am as a person today,” Abbas mentioned in an announcement posted on X (previously Twitter).

Abbas was a part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) digital crew masking the continuing World Cup matches. She arrived in India final week and had reported on Pakistan’s World Cup opener towards the Netherlands. She was attributable to attend her nation’s different matches in Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad. Pakistan will play India in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Relations between the 2 nations are tense – the neighbours have fought three wars since they turned unbiased nations in 1947.

Abbas confronted criticism from Indian social media customers after a lawyer in capital Delhi lodged a police criticism towards her final week over her previous posts.

Advocate Vineet Jindal’s criticism alleged that Abbas had an unofficial account on X (previously Twitter) from which she had posted “derogatory and provocative posts” about India and the Hindu faith. These posts are now not accessible on X, however screenshots went viral.

Mr Jindal additionally cited a tweet from Abbas’s present X account wherein she wrote about Kashmir’s proper to self-determination. The Himalayan area is split between India and Pakistan and each declare it in full.

The lawyer additionally wrote a letter to a high official within the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing physique of Indian cricket, searching for Abbas’s removing as an ICC presenter.

In her assertion, Abbas mentioned that regardless that there was no “immediate threat to her safety”, her household and mates from each India and Pakistan had been involved and that she additionally felt that she wanted some “space and time to reflect on what had happened”.

After her departure from India, there was hypothesis that she had been compelled to depart. But an ICC spokesperson had informed the BBC that she had left for private causes.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and options.