Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed deleted her post calling Indian captain Rohit Sharma “fat" and “unimpressive" hours after massive backlash. In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), she said, “Rohit Sharma is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And of course the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had!"

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She continued in another, saying, “What is so world-class about him when compared to his predecessors like Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, Kohli, Kapil Dev, Shastri & the rest? He is a mediocre captain as well as a mediocre player who got lucky to be the captain of India.”

Her remarks sparked a strong backlash from cricket fans and political figures alike. Responding to the criticism, Mohamed defended her stance, questioning Sharma’s decision-making during crucial matches. She cited his move to promote himself as an opener during India’s Test match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which she claimed led to KL Rahul’s demotion and Shubman Gill’s exclusion from the playing XI.

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Despite the outrage, Mohamed doubled down on her criticism, defending her stance by comparing Rohit to past Indian captains. She questioned his decision-making, stating, “Didn’t he move KL Rahul to bat at number 3 at the MCG Test & put himself at number 1 which backfired totally! Wasn’t that a selfish move? Because of that, Shubam Gill was out of the XI."

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Congress leader stays firm, her 'democracy' justification

“It was just a generic tweet about the fitness of a sportsperson. It is not body shaming. It is about the fitness of a sportsperson. I always believe a sports person has to be fit. So, I felt he is a bit overweight, so I tweeted on that. I am being attacked for no reason," Mohamed told news agency ANI.

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She added, “When I compared him to other captains like Dhoni, or for that matter Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and Virat, so I put up a statement."

She went on to say, “It [India] is a democracy," asking, “What’s wrong in saying?"

#WATCH | On her comment on Indian Cricket team captain Rohit Sharma, Congress leader Shama Mohammed says, "It was a generic tweet about the fitness of a sportsperson. It was not body-shaming. I always believed a sportsperson should be fit, and I felt he was a bit overweight, so I… pic.twitter.com/OBiLk84Mjh
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— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2025

BJP hits back

BJP was quick to hit back, with spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla taking a dig at the Congress party’s electoral record. “Those who have lost 90 elections under the captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling the captaincy of Rohit Sharma unimpressive!” Poonawalla remarked.

He further defended Sharma’s credentials, highlighting his recent success. “I guess six ducks in Delhi and 90 election losses is impressive, but winning the T20 World Cup isn’t! Rohit has a brilliant track record as captain, by the way!”

Those who have lost 90 elections under captaincy of Rahul Gandhi are calling captaincy of Rohit Sharma unimpressive!

I guess 6 ducks in Delhi and 90 election losses is impressive but winning T20 World Cup isn’t!

Rohit has a brilliant track record as captain by the way! pic.twitter.com/5xE8ecrr4x
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) March 3, 2025

Also read: 'Fat for a sportsman': Congress leader takes a jibe at Rohit Sharma, BJP reminds them of 90 election losses