'Politicians should stay away from cricket' - BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla gets trolled after criticizing Team India's middle order

The Indian team on Monday pulled off a draw from the jaws of defeat against Australia in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The middle-order stood at the crease for long periods of time and ensured the visitors got a historic draw to keep the series levelled. Chesteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, and Ravichandran Ashwin battled for significant amounts of time in the middle to ensure India drew the Test. 

However, some fans and cricket lovers were baffled by the way Ashwin and Vihari batted during the last session. The duo ducked and defended almost everything which was thrown at them from the Australian bowling attack. Their partnership lasted almost 43 overs and yielded just 62 runs. The purists of the game would actually agree with the way they batted and defended everything. However, the team received criticism from a place that they didn’t expect. 

The vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rajeev Shukla, took to Twitter to express his opinion about the result. According to the 61-year-old, if the middle order performed a little better than what they did, India would have won this match. He wrote, “Actually the middle could have performed little better and we would have won the match”

Actually the middle order could have performed little better and we would have won the match. @BCCI

— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) January 11, 2021

Twitter not happy with Rajeev Shukla’s comment

As soon as he put this tweet, fans of the Indian team started to troll him. His comments about the Indian team’s result seemed immature, considering the context of the match situation.

Here are some of the tweets by fans in reply to Shukla’s comments

Outrageous comment, when while India is appreciating the grit and resilience shown by the players. Yes there was a chance for India to win, if Pujara batted for 10 more overs, Pant batted for 30 more mins, Vihari dint Injure is Hamstring. Above all, could’ve been all out rushing

— rakesh allamneni (@AllamneniRakesh) January 11, 2021

Haan, aap hi khel lo Brisbane mein Shukla ji!

— Pawan Singh (@pawan_s26) January 11, 2021

NOT agree with above

— SUNNY (@LBW31306785) January 11, 2021

Now it shows you never played the game

— ☆bhupinder★$!ngh🇺🇸 (@Bhupi3920) January 11, 2021

Abe chup reh naa bhai, kyu beizzati Kara raha hai apna.

— Marx Of Blade (@marxofblade) January 11, 2021

Rajivji you can’t be serious. This is the best we have seen them perform in a long time.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 11, 2021

Another reason politicians should stay away from cricket! Don't understand the reading of the beautiful game but don't want to leave the #BCCI for obvious reasons!! #AapRehnedoSirji
Concentrate on politics and INC. https://t.co/0T32o94jkW

— vinit shah (@vinitshah_93) January 11, 2021

Sir how many matches u played ?
Vs AUS in Australia 🤔 https://t.co/1sSYXYvPM1

— Kshitiz Tiwari🇮🇳 (@KshitizTiwari17) January 11, 2021

India keep it 1-1 and set up a final battle at the Gabba

The India team were chasing 407 runs to win the Test match. In the history of Test cricket, only on four occasions has a team chased over 400 runs successfully in the fourth innings. Hence, the total was daunting to start with. On top of that, Ravindra Jadeja had broken his thumb and was unlikely to bat while Rishabh Pant had an injury on his elbow. To make things worse, Vihari suffered a hamstring injury while batting. With only five (technically four) wickets in hand, Ashwin and Vihari got on and planned to defend everything that came along their way. 

The effort from these two will be remembered for years to come and it is shocking to see Rajeev Shukla being of the opinion that their effort wasn’t good. It could be demoralizing for the Indian team, coming from one of the most senior officials of the board.