India star Ravichandran Ashwin has sympathised with Zimbabwe players after the ICC suspended the country as its full member. The entire cricket community was left in shock when the governing body announced the decision in its annual meeting on Thursday.

The ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket with immediate effect for failing to fulfil their obligation of ensuring that there is no government interference in its administration. ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said that what happened in Zimbabwe is a ‘serious breach’ of the Constitution.

“We do not take the decision to suspend a member lightly, but we must keep our sport free from political interference. What has happened in Zimbabwe is a serious breach of the Constitution and we cannot allow it to continue unchecked. The ICC wants cricket to continue in Zimbabwe in accordance with the Constitution,” ICC quoted Manohar as saying.

Unsurprisingly, the players from Zimbabwe have reacted emotionally in the wake of the news. One of the most emotional message came out from batsman Sikandar Raza. The right-handed batsman took to Twitter to express his disappointment over the turn of events, tweeting:

With things looking extremely gloomy at the moment, Ravichandran Ashwin took to Twitter to post a heartfelt message for Zimbabwe cricketers and the fans.

“Extremely heart breaking news for all Zim cricketers and their fans, reading the tweets of @SRazaB24 just shows the agony of cricketers and how their life’s have been taken away from them. I pray that the lovely cricket nation returns to its glory asap!,” wrote Ravichandran Ashwin.

The ICC has also frozen the funds for Zimbabwe. Not only that, the apex body has also barred any representative team from Zimbabwe to play in ICC tournaments, thus putting the country’s participation in October’s World T20 Qualifier in jeopardy.

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