London: English Cricket Board broke barriers by hosting its first-ever Iftar dinner at Lords Cricket Ground to further the cause of diversity and inclusion in sports.
The iftar dinner was hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which was attended by a number of high-profile dignitaries and was hosted by renowned commentators Aatif Nawaz and Tameena Hussain.
The ECB has been making active efforts to promote a positive and inclusive culture in sports since the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal at Yorkshire Cricket Club. Azeem Rafiq also attended the iftar dinner at Lords.
THIS GUY is about to host the FIRST EVER ECB Iftar event at Lords in the Long Room. What an honour 😊 pic.twitter.com/kUUMQZmBJ4
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) April 21, 2022
Besides Rafiq, other prominent cricketing personalities such as England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan attended the landmark event.
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The ECB’s effort has been praised by the cricketing fraternity for taking the initiative to promote a positive image of themselves on the international stage.
A sensational video of Maghrib Azaan being said in the Lords cricket Ground was shared over Twitter by Sky Sports’ Associate Producer Nakul Pande.
He captioned the video “You need not be a person of faith, only a person in possession of a soul, to find the adhan call to prayers reverberating around Lord’s Long Room spine-tingling. A beautiful moment.”
You need not be a person of faith, only a person in possession of a soul, to find the adhan call to prayer reverberating around the @HomeOfCricket Long Room spine-tingling. A beautiful moment. pic.twitter.com/PGN2EsksOC
— Nakul Pande (@NakulMPande) April 21, 2022
Eoin Morgan also took to Twitter to praise the effort by the ECB to promote inclusivity.
Really enjoyable evening last night @HomeOfCricket hosting its first ever Iftar. Ramadan Kareem 🙏🏻
— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) April 22, 2022