Mohammed Shami is unarguably one of the greatest pacers India have ever seen. Over the years, he has gone to become one of the best bowlers in the world as well. However, he was severely criticized and abused by the fans for his performance against Pakistan during the 20-20 World Cup 2021.
During India's first game of the tournament, Shami went for 43 runs in 3.5 overs against the Azam-led side and failed to pick a single wicket. Thus, the pacer got several hate messages on his social media account. Some people called him a traitor and claimed that he had taken money to lose the game.
However, Shami felt that there is no cure for such kind of thinking. During an interview with The Indian Express, the 31-year-old said that those who trolled him were neither "real fans nor were they real Indians. He also stated that one shouldn't get hurt by such comments.
"There is no cure for this kind of thinking. Those who troll (on religion) are not real fans, nor are they real Indians. If you consider a player as a hero and then behave this way, you are not being an Indian supporter. And I feel one should not get hurt by comments made by such people.
There was just one thing going on in my mind. If I consider someone as my role model, I will never speak ill about that person. And in case someone is saying something hurtful to me, he can’t be my fan or a fan of the Indian team," said Mohammed Shami.
The seamer then drew light on the mentality of such people. He mentioned the fact that reacting to people with unknown social media profiles give them undue importance. He also said that such people have nothing to lose.
"It is the mindset of people. It shows their low-level of education. When people with unknown social media profiles, or even one with a few followers, point fingers at someone, they don’t have anything to lose. For them, nothing is at stake because they are nobodies. But in case we react to them as a role model, as a celebrity, as an Indian cricketer, we are giving them undue importance. We don’t need to engage with them," he added.