New Delhi: Indian cricket team members have to pay a heavy price on the personal front every time they lose a match. They are subjected to harsh criticism, more so, when they lose to Pakistan. In the recent past, it is their families who are targeted and bear the brunt.
A Twitter user named @Criccrazyygirl posted (now deleted) a tweet threatening to rape Indian team skipper Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma’s daughter.
It is not yet confirmed who is operating the said social media account, as per reports. Many social media users have circulated the screenshot of the tweet that came after India lost a match against New Zealand on Sunday.
Before his daughter, Kohli’s teammate Mohammed Shami had also been trolled for just being Muslim. Kohli came in support of Shami and called out the social media users attacking him. This had come after India lost a T20 World cup match against Pakistan by 10-wickets.
Earlier, a similar threat was passed to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s daughter Ziva. Trolls had threatened to rape Dhoni’s daughter during IPL in October last year. According to reports, the man who sent the threat to Dhoni’s wife Sakshi Dhoni’s account was a resident of Namna Kapaya village in Kutch district.
Many, including former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, started calling out the trolls for targeting Kohli’s family and passing absurd and awful comments directed towards the 10-month-old girl.
Inzamam said that he was deeply hurt to see there were those who threatened Kohli’s daughter following India’s loss against New Zealand.
“I heard that threats are being given to Virat Kohli’s daughter. People need to understand it’s just a sport, we might be playing for different countries but we are a part of the same community. You have every right to criticise Kohli’s batting or his captaincy but nobody has the right to target a cricketer’s family. Few days back, something similar happened with Mohammed Shami. Victory and loss is a part of the game. I was deeply hurt to see people attacking Kohli’s family,” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel.
Many took to Twitter to call out the online abuse:
Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir on Monday said that it is shameful to see how the Indian cricket team is being trolled on social media after the loss against New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
“I still believe India is the best team it’s just a matter of having a good time or bad time but abusing players and their family is such a shame don’t forget the end of the day it’s just a game of cricket,” Amir tweeted.
