'He made the wrong choice by getting involved, must apologise' - Saeed Ajmal on Mohammad Amir's ugly Twitter spat with Harbhajan Singh

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal criticized Mohammad Amir for his ugly Twitter interaction with Harbhajan Singh after India’s 10-wicket loss against Pakistan.

“Harbhajan Paa ji ne TV to nai toda apna?” (Did Harbhajan break his TV?),” the pacer had tweeted after Pakistan broke their 12-match losing streak at the World Cups against India on October 24. Amir’s tweet led to a spat between the two cricketers, which was later joined by a few journalists as well as it turned into a slight controversy of sorts.

In the build-up of the game, pacer Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan were involved in friendly banter, which Amir joined. Harbhajan did not mince his words, as he reminded Amir of the infamous match-fixing scandal from 2010.

Meanwhile, Ajmal said that Amir should not have intervened in the conversation between Akhtar and Harbhajan, and must apologize for his behaviour. “Players should treat each other in a nice manner because sports bring people together. I think Amir made a mistake by jumping in that conversation [between Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh] and he should apologize for it. It was a discussion between two great cricketers and Amir made the wrong choice by getting involved in it.”

Ajmal also opened up on the treatment meted out to Indian pacer Mohammed Shami, who was targeted on social media over his religious beliefs after the loss. Shami endured a forgettable outing against Pakistan and was the most expensive bowler. Ajmal stated that sports should be kept away from religion and the players must not be “harassed” after such defeats.

“Player plays the game, religion does not play. It is not right to harass players based on their religion. If such things happen, the future generation might be scared of taking up the game. Players are being called gaddars (traitors). Kohli’s nine-month-old daughter is getting rape threats. It is a sport, where one team has to win and one has to lose. India performed badly in a couple of games. But if you look at the stats of the entire year, India have been perhaps the most successful team.”