CHANDIGARH: Indian cricketer Arshdeep Singh, who hasn’t posted anything on his social media handles since India’s defeat to Pakistan on Sunday night, has told his parents that he is ‘laughing’ seeing the tweets and messages.
Arshdeep Singh faced the wrath of social media users in India mainly by extremist Hindus after he dropped a catch in the closing stages of a tense Pak-India match.
Arshdeep’s father Darshan, who is currently the chief of security in a private company, told the Indian media after landing in Chandigarh on Monday evening that he spoke to Arshdeep before boarding. “His exact words were, ‘I am laughing at all these tweets and messages. I am only going to take positives from it. This incident has only given me more confidence’,” he quoted his son as having said.
Arshdeep’s father Darshan and mother Baljeet were at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, watching the clash between Pakistan and India.
Arshdeep’s mother revealed that the entire Indian team is indeed backing the youngster. Her comments come after Virat Kohli had mentioned in the post-match press conference that the team environment is such that Arshdeep won’t feel left out after a difficult day on the field.
“Arshdeep told us that the whole Indian team is supporting him,” his mother said.
When asked about the treatment their son received, Arshdeep’s father answered: “As a parent, it feels really bad. He is only 23. I don’t want to say much about trolls. You can’t shut everyone’s mouth. Without fans, there is no game. There are some who stand by you no matter what and others who can’t digest a single loss. But at the end of the day, only one team can win.”
Several former India players and political leaders extended support to Arshdeep, who faced a barrage of hate campaigns on social media with an unidentified user even editing the player’s Wikipedia page to add references to “Khalistan”, a reference made to the Indian Sikhs’ demand for independence from India and separate homeland.
