ICC World Cup: Battle of the biryani, Pakistan players have their say

There is something about the Pakistan cricket team and biryani. Ever since Babar Azam’s men set foot in Hyderabad about a week back, the talk of their food preferences keep popping up in the social media now and then. 

In a recent video released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on their Instagram handle, four of the Pakistan players - Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam ul Haq, and Haris Rauf are asked about the famous Hyderabadi biryani and how would they rate it over its Karachi version. There were no clear winners, but the video has certainly gone viral. 

Azam, in his unhurried style, rates Hyderabadi biryani eight of 10 but feels it’s on the ‘spicy’ side. Rauf, the tearaway paceman, says they had heard about the biryani of Nizam’s city and rated it 20 out of 10 in jest. Haq, the bespectacled opener, was more diplomatic: ‘’Both are very good, but don’t ask me to rate it.’’ 

The video, shared on Wednesday, attracted close to 6.7 lakh views within first two hours while the share also gathered nearly 77,000 likes.  

“Divided by nations united by biriyani,” expressed an Instagram user. “Love how Pakistani players loved our hospitality,” added another. “How can you even compare Hyderabadi biryani with others,” a third added. 

“Hyderabadi Biryani single-handedly beats any other biryani other than Lucknowi and Kolkata. Humne toh Karachi biryani ke baare me sunaa hi aaj hai [I came to know about the existence of Karachi biryani just today],” wrote a fourth. 

Pakistan, the 1992 winners of the World Cup, open their campaign against qualifiers Netherlands in Hyderabad on Friday.