New Delhi: Union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya has lashed out at both Congress and the Trinamool Congress leaders for their unsavory comments against Team India captain Rohit Sharma. The Champions Trophy is underway and Team India will be playing Australia on Tuesday in the semi finals.
On Sunday, during the India-New Zealand match, Congress’ Shama Mohamed had posted on X that Sharma is too fat to be a good sportsman.
“Need to lose weight. And of course, the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had,” she had posted.
Shama took down the post after being trolled, with some social media users even calling her anti-national, and a sharp reaction from the BJP. The Trinamool Congress entered the fray during this controversy with veteran leader Sougata Roy defending Mohamed.
“I have heard that Rohit Sharma’s performance has been quite poor. He scored a century, but other than that, he gets out after scoring 2, 3, 4 or 5 runs. He shouldn’t be in the team. India wins because the other players play well. But the captain doesn’t contribute. What Shama Mohamed had said is correct,” Roy said in a reply to a query on the subject by journalists.
Mandaviya took to X to call such ‘body shaming’ of the Team India captain as shameful and outright pathetic.
“The Congress and the Trinamool should leave sportspersons alone, as they are fully capable of handling their professional lives …….. Such comments undermine the hard work and sacrifices that our sportspersons make to represent the country on the Global stage,” he posted.
Former cricketer turned commentator Harbhajan Singh has also expressed dismay at Mohamed’s post.
“Sportspersons are also human beings with emotions and sentiments. It indeed hurts when people who have zero knowledge of the game give sermons. Respect the game and Respect the players,” the Turbanator posted on X.
