Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami was abused online after India’s loss against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday. Pakistan outplayed India in all the departments as they won the match comfortably by 10 wickets.
Batting first, India only managed 152 runs on the board. Apart from the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant the rest of the batting line-up failed to contribute a substantial score. Virat Kohli scored 57 runs off 49 deliveries while Pant scored 39 runs off 30 deliveries.
Shaheen Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan. In reply, Pakistan chased down the target in just 18 overs with no loss. The openers, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, both slammed the fifties and remained not out to take their side home.
Tough day for #TeamIndia at the office, but we will bounce back in our next game.#T20WorldCup #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/mYwYXVN6xc
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 24, 2021
India’s loss was a result of a complete failure in all departments and sheer dominance by the Pakistan side. However, India’s pacer Mohammed Shami was targeted and received abuse online for his performance in the match. The seamer had a bad day on the field as he conceded 43 runs at an economy rate of 11.2.
Mohammed Shami receives overwhelming support on social media
Some Twitter users condemned the abuse and backed Mohammed Shami. The fans have also tweeted asking the Indian team to take a stand for their pace bowler.
A Twitter user named @vaikivannavan shared the screenshots of the online abuse Mohammed Shami received on his Instagram profile.
https://twitter.com/vaikivannavan/status/1452329026027151362?s=20
https://twitter.com/farzeeiqbal/status/1452326536871387136?s=20
Sample Comments on Mohammad Shami’s Insta Page. Team India today took a knee for BLM. Can they stand up for their Team Mate? pic.twitter.com/6Ql2HQbiGJ
— Joy (@Joydas) October 24, 2021
Journalist Barkha Dutt has condemned online abuse. She has questioned the Indian cricket team over their silence on the abuse. Barkha wrote,
“Is the Indian cricket team going to take a gratuitous knee for Black Lives Matter, entirely disconnected from the Indian reality, but stay silent on the bigoted online attacks against Mohd Shami? We expect better @imVkohli.”
Is the Indian cricket team going to take a gratuitous knee for Black Lives Matter, entirely disconnected from the Indian reality, but stay silent on the bigoted online attacks against Mohd Shami? We expect better @imVkohli .
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) October 25, 2021
Cricket writer, Abhishek Mukherjee has tweeted, “RCB took a stance when Christian was attacked. KKR and others followed suit. Some cricketers, too. I wonder how BCCI and Shami’s teammates will respond to this.”
RCB took a stance when Christian was attacked. KKR and others followed suit. Some cricketers, too.
I wonder how BCCI and Shami's teammates will respond to this. https://t.co/JydGV2vdEK
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) October 24, 2021
After England's black players were targeted post Euro 2020, Harry Kane had told the racist fans that they're not needed.
Today, Mohammad Shami is being abused after India lost to Pakistan.
Time for India's Hindu players to stand up for their Muslim teammate.#INDvPAK
— Parth MN (@parthpunter) October 24, 2021
Indian players taking the knee is an absolute joke if none of them come out and speak against the abuse that Shami has received. He didn't even lose India the game.
The abuse has been so bad that someone like Jarrod has also posted about Shami's last performance vs Pakistan. https://t.co/ALlf0T7SY5
— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) October 24, 2021
Team India needs to take the knee for Shami. Now.
— saliltripathi (@saliltripathi) October 24, 2021
The islamophobic hate against #shami with aspersions on his patriotism and his commitment to the country. If this and the state enabled hatred against Indian minorities is not worth taking a knee, I don’t know what is @imVkohli @BCCI
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) October 25, 2021
Add Mohammad Shami after the vile comments hurled at him today. Stand up for him, Team India, if you won't take the knee.
— Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) October 24, 2021
Horrifying Islamophobic abuse being hurled at Mohammed Shami on social media after India's loss to Pakistan. The Indian team failed collectively, but Shami seems to be the only one bearing this cross. In complete solidarity with Shami. We are lucky that he plays for us.
— Uday Rana (@UdaySRana) October 24, 2021
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