An Indian bowler previously attacked on social media for his Muslim faith has emerged as a hero of the national team as it prepares to take on Australia in the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami took seven wickets in Wednesday\u2019s semifinal against New Zealand \u2013 the biggest haul in the tournament\u2019s history \u2013 cementing his status as a standout of this World Cup. <\/p>\n
Millions of cricket fans celebrated their beloved team\u2019s win on Wednesday \u2013 and Shami has been singled out as a bowling sensation who could lead them to victory in the final. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe bowling by (Mohammed Shami) in this game and also through the World Cup will be cherished by cricket lovers for generations to come,\u201d India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the game. \u201cWell played Shami!\u201d <\/p>\n
Celebratory headlines dominated local news, with the Times of India, one of the country\u2019s largest English-language newspapers, writing at length about how Shami left the cricketing world \u201cspellbound.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yet, as admiration reverberated around the country, commentators were quick to remind fans that Shami \u2013 as one of the only Muslim cricketers on the national team \u2013 recently endured harmful and racist online abuse for his identity and faith. <\/p>\n
In 2021, the player received a torrent of online hate after India lost to Pakistan during the Twenty20 World Cup. <\/p>\n
Often described as one of the greatest sporting grudges in the world, India-Pakistan cricket matches are bound up in geopolitical fault lines. The two countries have fought three wars and restrict the movement of trade and people across borders, despite sharing a culture and deeply entwined history. <\/p>\n
The vitriol against Shami got so bad that former captain Virat Kohli and other sporting legends rallied to his defense. <\/p>\n
\u201cAttacking someone over religion is the most pathetic thing a human being can do,\u201d Kohli told reporters at the time, in a news conference that made headlines across the country. \u201cWe stand by Shami completely.\u201d <\/p>\n
Religious tensions have flared in Hindu-majority India since Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ascended to power, ushering in policies critics allege discriminate against minorities. <\/p>\n
Many took to social media after Shami\u2019s performance this week to point out the irony that a man once singled out for hateful comments has led the country to the final, to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the western state of Gujarat on Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cRemember how Mohammed Shami was targeted two years ago after loss to Pakistan. Then captain Virat Kohli was also attacked for standing up for him,\u201d wrote Manu Sebastian, the managing editor of the Indian legal website, Live Law, on X. \u201cBoth of them are emerging as heroes of India\u2019s World Cup journey. Sports is something beyond bigots\u2019 narrow and jingoistic vision.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kohli\u2019s performance in this year\u2019s tournament has also been praised and the batsman is widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the sport. <\/p>\n
Cartoonist Satish Satish Acharya on Thursday published an image he sketched of Shami in a cricket stadium, with a fan who says to the bowler: \u201cHum saath saath hai bhai!\u201d (We are with you brother). <\/p>\n
On his social media, Acharya wrote: \u201cTrolled in the past, Mohammed Shami is now showered with love!\u201d <\/p>\n\n
An Indian bowler previously attacked on social media for his Muslim faith has emerged as a hero of the national team as it prepares to take on Australia in the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday. Fast bowler Mohammed Shami took seven wickets in Wednesday\u2019s semifinal against New Zealand \u2013 the biggest haul in the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}