- Thursday, May 09, 2024
Hours after the India bowler produced a match-winning performance against New Zealand in the final of the cricket World Cup 2023, PM Narendra Modi praised him while an opposition leader recalled the 2021 attacks on the cricketer.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA cricketer Mohammed Shami, whose fiery show with the ball in the semi-final of the ICC men’s World Cup 2023 against New Zealand on Wednesday (15) took the country to the final after 12 years, has drawn the attention of India’s polarised political circle after the heroics.
Prime minister Narendra Modi hailed the veteran fast bowler after he picked seven wickets for 57 runs in the match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai saying his contribution would be cherished by generations of cricket lovers.
Making a special mention of Shami in a post on X, Modi said, “Today’s Semi Final has been even more special thanks to stellar individual performances too. The bowling by @MdShami11 in this game and also through the World Cup will be cherished by cricket lovers for generations to come. Well played Shami!”
Today’s Semi Final has been even more special thanks to stellar individual performances too.
The bowling by @MdShami11 in this game and also through the World Cup will be cherished by cricket lovers for generations to come.
Well played Shami!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 15, 2023
An hour or so after the prime minister tweeted, Srinivas BV, national president of the Indian Youth Congress or the youth wing of the opposition Indian National Congress, made a post in Hindi saying it was only their leader Rahul Gandhi who had stood by the Indian cricketer after he was viciously targeted by Hindu nationalists after failing to deliver in a match against arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in Dubai in 2021, which India lost by 10 wickets.
आज से कुछ सालों पहले जब हिन्दू-मुस्लिम की भांग पीकर भक्त Mohd Shami को गालियां दे रहे थे,
तब Shami के साथ सिर्फ @RahulGandhi खड़े थे। https://t.co/3gh7cwf8eB
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) November 15, 2023
Vitriolic messages flooded Shami’s Instagram account that even called him a “traitor” and called for his expulsion from the national side. There were also reports of violence against Muslims in India after the match.
In his post on X, Srinivas said, Gandhi was with Shami when people ‘high on Hindu-Muslim drugs’ abused the bowler. He also shared a screenshot of Gandhi’s tweet made on October 25, 2021, that said, “Mohammad #Shami we are all with you. These people are filled with hate because nobody gives them any love. Forgive them.”
The social media was divided over the Congress leader’s tweet with many saying it was part of the ploy for the general elections in 2024.
Virat Kohli, who was the captain of India then, had also come out in support of Shami and called those who attacked the bowler as “some bunch of spineless people that have no courage to speak to any person in person”.
Legendary former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar had also extended support to Shami and the Indian team at the time.
