Virat Kohli stands up for Mohammed Shami; says 'Attacking someone over religion is pathetic

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli, India's captain on Saturday slammed social media abuse directed at pacer Mohammed Shami following the team's loss to Pakistan in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

31-year-old Shami received social media abuse after the 10-wicket loss in Dubai.

In an online interaction from Dubai Virat Kohli said,"Attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing that a human being can do."

“Everyone has the right to voice their opinion and what they feel about a certain situation, but I personally have never ever even thought of discriminating (against) anyone over their religion,” Kohli added.

He further stated that discriminating someone for their religion is a very sacred and a personal thing and that should be left there.

"People take out their frustrations because they obviously have no understanding of how much effort we put on the field and what we do as an individual and have no understanding of the fact that Mohammed Shami has won India number of matches in the last few years and has been our primary bowler with Jasprit Bumrah when it comes to making an impact in games in Test cricket," adding this Kohli said,"If people can overlook that, I honestly do not even want to waste one minute of my life to give any attention to those people and neither does Shami and neither does anyone else in the team," Kohli.

Kohli said that the team's relationship is so strong that such chit-chat does not affect them.

"We stand by him fully. We are backing him 200 per cent. And if all those who have assaulted want to, they can come in even stronger. Nothing can shake our brotherhood or friendship among the squad," said Kohli.

“I can guarantee you that as the captain of the team that we have built a culture where these things will not even infiltrate into this environment – .0001 per cent. That is a absolute guarantee for myself," captain Kohli said.

Follow us on Facebook