Congress leader slammed for calling Rohit Sharma "fat"; BCCI secretary reacts

Indian ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, under whose leadership India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, was recently called “fat” and "unimpressive Indian captain" by a Congress leader. 

The Indian cricket team is busy in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Rohit Sharma-led Team India plays all its matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Indian team won all its group stage matches as the Group A side beat Bangladesh and Pakistan by six wickets each and ended the group stage with a 44-run victory against New Zealand.

As India finished as the Group A champions, they will face Group B runners-up Australia in the tournament's first semi-final on Tuesday (March 4). 

Shama Mohamed is engaged in a controversy after calling Rohit Sharma “fat” and "unimpressive Indian captain"

Indian National Congress leader Shama Mohamed has sparked nationwide controversy after calling the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma “fat” through her social media account. She further added that Rohit was the most unimpressive captain the country had ever had. 

Shama Mohamed wrote, "@ImRo45 is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And of course, the most unimpressive captain India has ever had!"

Although Mohamed has deleted that post, she is facing massive backlash. The country’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has accused the opposition leader of spreading “body shaming.” 

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BCCI secretary reacted

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia has also reacted to that social media comment. He called that the comment was very unfortunate, especially when the team is busy in a crucial ICC tournament. 

Saikia told NDTV in an exclusive chat, "Very unfortunate for a responsible person to pass such a trivial comment when the team is in the middle of such a crucial ICC tournament. It may have demoralising effect on an individual or the team. All the players are performing to their highest potential and results are visible. I hope individuals will desist from making such derogatory statements for personal publicity sake," 

Last June, the Rohit Sharma-led team India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America. It was India’s second T20 World Cup title after lifting that in the inaugural edition under the leadership of MS Dhoni (2007). It was India’s first ICC trophy victory in 11 years.