‘Attacking someone over religion is most pathetic’

Mohammed Shami. Pic/AP, PTI

A livid India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday hit back at "spineless trolls" who attacked Mohammed Shami's religion after the team lost to Pakistan in its inaugural T20 World Cup game and said targetting people for their faith is "the most pathetic thing" to do.

Shami, who endured an off day in India's 10-wicket defeat, was trolled on instagram for his Muslim identity. "Attacking someone over their religion is the most, I would say, pathetic thing that a human being can do," skipper Kohli didn't mince words on the eve of his team's crucial match against New Zealand when asked about the trolling that his senior pacer faced.

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For Kohli, social media trolls are nothing but a bunch of "spineless" people, who don't have the courage to face real people in real life. "There is a good reason why we are playing on the field and not some bunch of spineless people on social media that have no courage to actually speak to any individual in person," he said
A lot of star players, including Sachin Tendulkar, had posted messages in support of Shami during the furore.

"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. That is a very sacred and a personal thing," Kohli said.

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