NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Ray has backed Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed’s controversial comments about India captain Rohit Sharma. Ray told news agency IANS that he agrees with Mohamed’s assessment of the captain.
“It is true that Rohit Sharma’s performance has been quite poor. He scored one century, but other than that, he gets out after scoring 2, 3, 4, or 5 runs. He shouldn’t be (on the team),” Ray said.
“India wins because the other players play well, but the captain doesn’t contribute,” he said further adding, “What Shama Mohamed has said is correct.”
Ray backed Mohamed’s statements amid high controversy which started as she fat shamed Rohit.
In a post on X she called Rohit Sharma “fat for a sportsman” and “the most unimpressive captain India has ever had.” She later removed deleted these posts following backlash.
Meanwhile, Congress officially distanced itself from her remarks. Congress leader Pawan Khera said: “Dr. Shama Mohammed, National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress, made certain remarks about a cricketing legend that do not reflect the party’s position. She has been asked to delete the concerned social media posts from X and has been advised to exercise greater caution in the future. The Indian National Congress holds the contributions of sporting icons in the highest regard and does not endorse any statements that undermine their legacy.”
Bharatiya Janata Party accused her of “body shaming” the stalwart batter and took a dig at the Congress party’s electoral performance.
“Those who have lost 90 elections under captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling captaincy of Rohit Sharma unimpressive! I guess 6 ducks in Delhi and 90 election losses is impressive but winning T20 World Cup isn’t! Rohit has a brilliant track record as captain by the way!” Shehzad Poonawalla posted on X.
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told ANI: “It’s very unfortunate this kind of remarks come from such a person who is on a responsible post to our captain, on a meanwhile time when India is playing an ICC tournament and the team is all set to play semi final.”
