'Attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing that a human being can do' - Kohli blasts Shami's trollers

Indian skipper Virat Kohli slammed the trollers who had a go at Mohammed Shami after India’s defeat in the 20-20 World Cup against Pakistan. Shami was targeted on social media after his poor outing against Pakistan. The pacer shelled 43 runs in 3.5 overs as India went down by 10 wickets. However, Shami was not the only one taken to the cleaners by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as every Indian bowler received the same treatment. The trolls though singled out Shami and used extremely derogatory language.

Kohli came down hard on the trollers and said that attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing one can do. He also said that people abusing Shami are a bunch of spineless people who have no understanding of the efforts players put on the field.

“To me, attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing that a human being can do,” Kohli said in a press conference on Saturday (October 30). “Everyone has their right to voice their opinion and what they feel about certain situations, but I personally have never ever even thought of discriminating against anyone over their religion.

“That is very sacred and a personal thing to every human being and that should be left there. People take out their frustrations because they obviously don’t have an understanding of what we do as individuals, or how much effort we put on the field.”

Kohli further said the team is fully behind Shami, adding that they don’t care about people who overlooked Shami's achievements and abused him for having an off-day. “They have no understanding of the fact that someone like Mohammed Shami has won India ‘n’ number of matches in the last few years and he’s been our primary bowler with Jasprit Bumrah when it comes to making an impact in games in Test cricket. If people can overlook that and his passion for the country, I don’t even want to waste one minute of my life to give any attention to those people. Neither does Shami and neither does anyone else in the team,” Kohli said.

“We stand by him fully and back him 200 percent and all those who have attacked him can come with more force if they want to. Our brotherhood, our friendship within the team, and nothing can be shaken. I can guarantee to you as the captain of the team that we have built a culture where these things will not infiltrate into the environment,” he added.