Indian captain Rohit Sharma has landed in hot waters over his fitness with an Indian lawmaker resorting to fat-shaming the right-handed opener while terming him the “most unimpressive” Indian skipper.
“@ImRo45 is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight And of course the most unimpressive captain India has ever had!” said Indian National Congress (INC) spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed in a now-deleted post on X.
The politician, as reported by the Hindustan Times, further said that Sharma was a mediocre captain who had only been lucky to end up leading the team as there wasn’t anything “world-class” about him.
Dr Shama’s remarks, however, have drawn a strong reaction from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla taking a jibe at INC’s losses in the political arena.
“Those who have lost 90 elections under the captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling the captaincy of Rohit [Sharma] unimpressive,” said Poonawalla, adding that the Indian team had won the T20 World Cup 2024 under the current skipper.
This isn’t the first time Rohit has come under fire for his fitness as he was fat-shamed by fans in January during a Ranji Trophy match and was even called “vada pav” — a popular street food dish in India.
The criticism targeting Rohit’s fitness comes as the Men in Blue have remained unbeaten in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 and are set to take on Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday (tomorrow).
India are at the top of the points table in Group A after winning all three of their matches which included wins against host Pakistan as well as New Zealand.
