NEW DELHI: Indian cricket legend Harbhajan Singh on Monday came out strongly against Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed after she had fat-shamed Team India captain Rohit Sharma and questioned his leadership.
The former cricketer took to social media to express his disappointment, calling 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.
The controversy began late Sunday when Shama Mohamed took a swipe at Rohit Sharma following India’s Champions Trophy match against New Zealand.
In a now-deleted post, she called the Indian captain “fat” and a “mediocre captain,” adding:
“Rohit Sharma is fat for a sportsman! Needs to lose weight! And of course, the most unimpressive captain India has ever had!”
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.
Facing heavy backlash, Shama defended her remarks, claiming they were not meant to be body-shaming but rather an observation about an athlete’s fitness.
SEE ALSO: ‘Needs to lose weight’: Congress leader fat-shames Rohit Sharma in post, deletes it later
“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,” she told ANI.
She also insisted that her comments were being blown out of proportion. “I have the right to express my opinion. What is wrong in saying this? It is a democracy,” she added.
While the debate raged off the field, Rohit Sharma and Team India let their game do the talking.
On Monday, India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs, with Shreyas Iyer’s composed 79 and Varun Chakravarthy’s five-wicket haul helping them top Group A.
The Men in Blue now gear up for a high-stakes semifinal clash against Australia on Tuesday.
