Arshdeep was subjected to hateful comments on social media after India's defeat to Pakistan.
The left-arm fast bowler dropped a simple catch to give Pakistan batter Asif Ali a lifeline in the 18th over of the second innings at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (September 4).
The Men in Blue eventually paid the price for it as Asif produced a stunning cameo (16 off 8 balls) to help Pakistan chase down the target of 182 with five wickets and a ball to spare.
WATCH – “Anyone can commit mistakes under pressure,” Kohli defends Arshdeep over dropped catch
Afterwards, Arshdeep was subjected to hateful comments on social media. Moreover, his Wikipedia page was changed to ‘Khalistani’.
“Well, first and foremost, if you are going to be on public media, I don't call it social media purposely because there's nothing social about it. If you are going to be there, then you are going to have to face these situations, and the best thing would be to not be on the public media,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to India Today.
“I actually don't even know why people take all these people who are commenting adversely seriously. Who are they? If a former player or a fellow player actually says something nasty, something critical, then you take note. You can't ignore that because that person has had the experience of having played the game,” he added.
Gavaskar urged Arshdeep Singh and other cricketers to not take the faceless trolls seriously.
“Somebody who has never played the game, somebody, who is hiding behind some anonymous identity, why would you take them seriously? Yes, the online newspapers take them seriously because they want eyeballs. Every headline on the online site is 'so and so slams, so and so grills'. It's never a headline which will... they all want eyeballs,” he stated.
“I am not on any of these things, I am only on Instagram. I don't even understand why people take these comments seriously. Who are they? They are nobodys, they might not have probably picked up a bat even in a sports shop and they are still giving their opinion about cricket. Nah. Ignore them!” he further remarked.
Apart from Sunil Gavaskar, Arshdeep Singh has also found support from other Indian cricket legends, including Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Shami, among others.
Arshdeep will now be seen in action in India’s next Asia Cup Super-4 clash against Pakistan on Tuesday (September 6).