MUMBAI — A Pakistani cricket commentator who abruptly left India earlier this week has denied that she was asked to leave the country.

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

Abbas said she felt "intimidated and scared" by the online reactions.

She also apologized to people who were 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 said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Abbas was part of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) digital team covering the ongoing World Cup matches. She arrived in India last week and had reported on Pakistan's World Cup opener against the Netherlands. She was due to attend her country's other matches in Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad. Pakistan will play India in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Relations between the two countries are tense — the neighbors have fought three wars since they became independent nations in 1947.

Abbas faced criticism from Indian social media users after a lawyer in capital Delhi lodged a police complaint against her last week over her old posts.

Advocate Vineet Jindal's complaint alleged that Abbas had an unofficial account on X (formerly Twitter) from which she had posted "derogatory and provocative posts" about India and the Hindu religion. These posts are no longer available on X, but screenshots went viral.

Jindal also cited a tweet from Abbas's current X account in which she wrote about Kashmir's right to self-determination. The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim it in full.

The lawyer also wrote a letter to a top official in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body of Indian cricket, seeking Abbas's removal as an ICC presenter.

In her statement, Abbas said that even though there was no "immediate threat to her safety", her family and friends from both India and Pakistan were concerned and that she also felt that she needed some "space and time to reflect on what had happened".

After her departure from India, there was speculation that she had been forced to leave. But an ICC spokesperson had told the BBC that she had left for personal reasons. — BBC