Amid Rohit Sharma remark row, Congress leader Shama Mohamed’s old post on Virat Kohli resurfaces

Shama Mohamed (file photo)

Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed's old social media post on India batter and former captain Virat Kohli has resurfaced where she said, “Virat Kohli plays a British game". This comes amid a widespread controversy over her comments in which she allegedly fat-shamed India's men's cricket captain Rohit Sharma, drawing sharp reactions from political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the common mass.

“Virat Kohli plays a British invented game, makes crores from endorsing foreign brands, gets married in Italy, names Herschelle Gibbs his favourite cricketer & Angelique Kerber the best tennis player, but tells those who love foreign batsmen to leave India," Shama Mohamed had posted in November 2018.

The Congress politician recently called the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma "fat" and a "mediocre captain" in a social media post on X. “Rohit Sharma is fat for a sportsman! Needs to lose weight! And of course, the most unimpressive captain India has ever had!” her now-deleted post read.

"What is so world-class about him when compared to his predecessors? He is a mediocre captain as well as a mediocre player who got lucky to be the captain of India," she wrote in another post.

Reacting to her latest post on Rohit Sharma, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Those who have lost 90 elections under the captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling the captaincy of Rohit Sharma unimpressive!"

“I guess 6 ducks in Delhi and 90 election losses is impressive, but winning the T20 World Cup isn’t! Rohit has a brilliant track record as captain, by the way,” he added.

BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia also responded to controversial comments made by Shama Mohamed. "It's very unfortunate that this kind of remark comes from such a person who is in a responsible post to our captain at a time when India is playing an ICC tournament and the team is all set to play a semi-final," Devajit Saikia, BCCI Secretary, said while speaking to news agency ANI.