Virender Sehwag hits out at trolls who targeted Sania Mirza for Shoaib Malik’s duck against India

The extreme reaction against the Pakistan team after it lost the marquee game against India in ICC World Cup 2019 has started attracting counter-reactions. Fans in Pakistan have been ruthlessly coming down at their national cricketers after they failed to produce anything against the arch-rivals at Old Trafford, Manchester, last Sunday. It has grown to such an extent that former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag had to come out in their support.

Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and asked India to bat. Riding on Rohit Sharma’s majestic 140, the Men in Blue made 336 for 5 in 50 overs, a score that Pakistan’s brittle batting line-up would always find tough to chase despite a couple of decent knocks from opener Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam. One Pakistan cricketer who was particularly targeted after the 89-run defeat is Shoaib Malik.

The batting all-rounder fell for a golden duck which was also the second consecutive nought after his two-ball zero against Australia in the previous game. The 37-year-old, who is playing in his final ODI tournament, also made the headlines for appearing at a sheesha place in the UK late in the night along with his wife Sania Mirza and other Pakistani cricketers.

A video of their presence soon went viral and it was being alleged that Malik and other Pakistani players were busy partying late into the night when they had a big match against India the next morning. Even Sania was not spared after Malik failed to score a run in the game. Later, it clarified that the video was from June 13 night and not June 15, the eve of the big clash.

While the ace Indian tennis player did her bit against the trolls who she accused of violating their privacy, former cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Virender Sehwag also came to her rescue. Sehwag said nobody had the right to talk about players’ personal lives if the team did not do well.

Can’t connect players’ personal lives to professional careers

“I don’t think you can connect personal life to their professional careers. I had said this before as well when Virat Kohli got out and Anushka Sharma was there to watch the match. I said you cannot comment on anyone’s family.. no matter how emotional you are about your team and your players but you cannot go into their personal life,” India Today quoted the 40-year-old as saying.

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“No one has the right (to do that). Sania Mirza and Malik where they go, what they eat and where they go.. no one can interfere there. It is his (Malik’s) life.. he has to prepare himself for an India-Pakistan match and it is his wish how he wants to prepare.. let him prepare anyway he wants to,” Sehwag said.

He further mentioned that it is okay to say that Malik should be dropped since he is not scoring runs but it is not okay to ask why did he go out to have dinner with his wife and came back late.

It may be mentioned here that ace actress Anushka Sharma was brutally trolled after she had gone to Australia to watch her husband Virat Kohli play in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup against Australia. Kohli fell early in that game and India lost and Anushka was targeted.