Mar 03, 2025 11:49 AM IST
Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed deleted her post on X criticizing Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma’s fitness after backlash from BJP.
After drawing flak from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress’ national spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed deleted her controversial post on X, formerly Twitter, in which she called the captain of the Indian cricket team Rohit Sharma “overweight”.
Defending her comments, Shama said that she made the post in a “generic manner” as she feels that a sportsperson should be fit. She said that she did not mean to “body-shame” Rohit Sharma but was commenting on his fitness.
“It was a generic tweet about the fitness of a sportsperson. It was not body-shaming. I always believed a sportsperson should be fit, and I felt he was a bit overweight, so I just tweeted about that. I have been attacked for no reason. When I compared him with previous captains, I put in a statement. I have the right. What is wrong in saying? It is a democracy,” she told news agency ANI.
What Shama Mohamed had said
Shama Mohamed’s remarks about Rohit Sharma’s fitness came after he was dismissed after 15 runs off 17 balls during an India-New Zealand match for the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday.
India won the match by 44 runs, however, Shama made remarks about the cricket team’ captain’s weight, calling him “fat” and suggesting that he needs to lose weight. She also called him the “most unimpressive captain India has ever had”.
In a now deleted post, she wrote, “Rohit Sharma is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And of course the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had!”
Comparing Sharma to previous captains of the Indian cricket team, Shama wrote in another post, “What is so world-class about him when compared to his predecessors? He is a mediocre captain as well as a mediocre player who got lucky to be the captain of India.”
BJP’s reaction
Not leaving the chance to criticise the Congress spokesperson’s remarks, BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla said that “Those who have lost 90 elections under captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling captaincy of Rohit Sharma unimpressive!”
“I guess 6 ducks in Delhi and 90 election losses is impressive but winning T20 World Cup isn’t! Rohit has a brilliant track record as captain by the way!” he added.
Another BJP leader Radhika Khera also attacked the Congress party over the remarks of its spokesperson. “The sheer audacity! This is the same Congress that humiliated athletes for decades, denied them recognition, and now dares to mock a cricketing legend? The party that thrives on nepotism is lecturing a self-made champion?” she said.
“Rohit Sharma is a World Cup-winning captain. Your leader, @RahulGandhi can’t even captain his own party without crashing it into the ground!” she said
Recommended Topics
