Former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Venkatesh Prasad were not happy with Congress spokesperson Dr. Shama Mohamed after she had fat-shamed Team India captain Rohit Sharma and questioned his leadership.
In a now-deleted post on X, Congress leader Dr Shama Mohamed stated: “- @ImRo45 is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And of course, the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had!”
Her remarks came in the aftermath of Rohit's dismissal on 15 (17) during India's final group stage match against New Zealand for the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Harbhajan Singh expressed disappointment at Mohamed’s post on Rohit Sharma and called the controversy “unfortunate and uncalled for.”
“The controversy on the fitness of Rohit Sharma was unfortunate and uncalled for. He is an outstanding player and an exceptional leader who has made immense contributions to Indian cricket. Sportspersons are also human beings with emotion and sentiment. It indeed hurts when persons who have zero knowledge of the game give sermons. Respect the game and respect the players,” Harbhajan wrote on X.
Despite deleting the post, Shama continued her criticism in another tweet, questioning Rohit's stature compared to Indian cricketing greats like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Kapil Dev.
Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad also called out the Congress leader for her unsavory remarks on Rohit Sharma and said that the Mumbai batter had maintained great dignity as India captain and even won the T20 World Cup last year.
“Rohit has maintained great dignity as a captain, led us to a T-20 WC win 8 months back and in the middle of an ICC tournament, body-shaming him is absolutely pathetic and uncalled for. Should have some respect for a person who has achieved through his skills and leadership for so many years,” Venkatesh Prasad posted.
In the face of harsh criticism, Shama defended her comments, saying they were an assessment of an athlete's fitness rather than a body-shaming statement.
“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 the right to express my opinion. What is wrong in saying this? It is a democracy,” Mohamed told ANI.
