Indian seamer Arshdeep Singh faced vicious trolling from a section of Pakistani fans on social media after India lost to Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday. He had dropped a simple catch of Pakistan’s all-rounder Asif Ali in the 18th over which eventually proved costly. But that wasn’t the solitary or principal reason behind India’s defeat.
In fact, he redeemed himself by bowling a fine 20th over in which he had to defend only 7 runs. Also, after the leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep was India’s most economical bowler.
But that did not deter nefarious elements from using his Sikh identity to besmirch his image by calling him a ‘Khalistani’.
In the face of such an ugly incident, the IT ministry has issued summons to Wikipedia officials in India seeking an explanation on how Arshdeep Singh’s Wikipedia page was mutilated to establish his association with Khalistan.
Hearteningly, many folks from the cricketing community came forward to show solidarity with him.
After the match, star Indian batsman Virat Kohli firmly threw his weight behind Arshdeep. “Arshdeep Singh bowled well. Anyone can make a mistake. It was a high pressure game and mistakes can happen,” he told the media at a post-match press conference.
The noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle backed him to win a lot of matches for India in future.
When a player is down is when you have to reach out to him so he emerges stronger. Saying nasty things about Arshdeep does nobody any good. We have all made mistakes under pressure. This is the time to back him. He will win India a lot of matches
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 5, 2022
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“When a player is down is when you have to reach out to him so he emerges stronger. Saying nasty things about Arshdeep does nobody any good. We have all made mistakes under pressure. This is the time to back him. He will win India a lot of matches,” he tweeted.
The former left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan hailed Arshdeep as a “strong character”.
Arshdeep is a strong character. Stay that way boy. @arshdeepsinghh
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 4, 2022
The former leg-spinner Amit Mishra was sharply forthright and flayed the mischievous elements trying to break India’s unity. “Every Indian is proud of Arshdeep Singh. The issues related to cricket should be settled on the cricket field only. Those who are paid to create rift among India’s unity must understand that Indians won’t buy your propaganda. We stand with our boys,” he asserted.