When Tabraiz Shamsi forced Suryakumar Yadav to hole one straight to long off in the second T20I between India and South Africa in Gqeherba earlier this month, the left-arm spinner was right in celebrating it as a match-winning moment. India’s stand-in captain being removed in the 14th over eventually played a decisive role as the hosts emerged victorious. However, the 33-year-old has now conceded that the celebrations led to him being hurled with online abuse following the match.
“People took it in a negative way; they thought it was disrespectful,” Shamsi told Cricbuzz. “I had so much abuse hurled at me. It was probably the worst it’s ever been. There was also abuse hurled at my wife. I didn’t appreciate that. It’s uncalled for. It’s fine if you want to have a dig at the players, but to involve family and say nasty things, that pushes it to another level.”
Taking to his social media a day after the match, Shamsi wrote a strong-worded statement. “It’s just a fun celebration which a lot of kids enjoy and means no disrespect towards the batter… I’ve mentioned that countless times before. All you guys hurling abuse are just giving other genuine cricket loving fans from your country a bad name.. cheers,” he’d write.
It’s just a fun celebration which a lot of kids enjoy and means no disrespect towards the batter… I’ve mentioned that countless times before.
All you guys hurling abuse are just giving other genuine cricket loving fans from your country a bad name.. cheers ✌️ pic.twitter.com/n5bP99KYyL
— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) December 13, 2023
However, it would only lead to more hateful comments being bombarded at the South Africa international. In the aftermath of the same, Shamsi feels that more players should take stand against online abusers.
“I feel that if players don’t say anything about it, then people think they have free licence. More people need to speak up and say it’s not OK. Yes, we’re all trying our best. Yes, your team might not win or you might not agree with certain things. But you need to behave like a human being. You can’t carry on like an animal,” he said.
The Proteas spinner has been known for speaking his mind on the social media. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Australia, he voiced his support for Usman Khawaja, who’d been denied to wear shoes with the ‘Freedom is a human right’ and ‘All lives are equal’.
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“I would like the ICC to explain what exactly has Usman Khawaja done wrong?? Why the double standards??” Shamsi wrote on his X account, tagging cricket’s world governing body in his tweet.
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