Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Amir's Twitter banter had turned ugly.
India's veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh and Pakistan's former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar discussed the need for mutual respect among fans during the high-voltage cricket match between India and Pakistan.
Social media saw a few ugly spats between fans and ex-cricketers after the recent India-Pakistan clash in the T20 World Cup 2021. Even Harbhajan was involved in a Twitter exchange with ex-Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir.
Started as banter, the exchange of tweets ended with personal digs at each other between Harbhajan and Amir. The India spinner was later attacked by Pakistan journalists with each win of Babar Azam-led side in the T20 World Cup.
"During this World Cup, a lot of things have happened, a lot of things have been said from Pakistan and its people on Twitter and same from our side. I said some things, just like your players (ref: Amir) said a few things. But overall we are international cricketers and we have more responsibilities to set a good example for people and the message that we must give to them," Harbhajan said in a video interaction with Akhtar for Sportskeeda.
"So, we need to avoid a Twitter war of words in the future. It started off as banter but it's better if fun is restricted to the fun. If we didn't play well, that shouldn't mean Pak fans climb on us or the other way around," he added.
Akhtar understands the need for mutual respect to keep the banter healthy and fun between people from across the border. He replied, "I agree, mutual respect is very important."
Pakistan had defeated India by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2021. While Virat Kohli and co were knocked out in the Super 12 stage, Pakistan reached the semi-final before losing to Australia on Thursday (November 11) by 5 wickets.