Afghanistan bowling coach and Pakistan pace legend Umar Gul had words of support for young Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh who dropped a crucial catch in his side's first Super Four phase clash against Pakistan.
The 23-year-old Indian pacer dropped an important catch in the 18th over of Pakistan's innings against India in the Super Four phase clash while the former were chasing 182 runs. Singh had dropped Asif Ali, who took full advantage of the lifeline given to him as Pakistan hit pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 19 runs in the next over. Arshdeep Singh was given the final over to defend seven runs but was unsuccessful.
Arshdeep became the target of vicious online trolling after he dropped the crucial catch. Reportedly, many handles from Pakistan also became active. The word "India" was replaced with "Khalistan" on Singh's Wikipedia page by an anonymous user even as another editor shortly undid these changes.
"This is a part of the game. I did not mind when catches were dropped on my bowling. I used to mind when fielders did not put 100 per cent effort during my bowling. Catches are dropped by the best of the fielders. It is important that you go and support him because no one drops catches deliberately. You should back him and ask him to get ready for the next ball," said Gul on Tuesday during a pre-match press conference ahead of his side's Super Four clash against Pakistan.
Notably, The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken note of the edited Wikipedia page linking cricketer Arshdeep Singh to Khalistan and MeitY is expected to initiate action on Wikipedia, said sources.
The Ministry of Electronics and Technology on Monday said that "no intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation" after cricketer Arshdeep Singh's Wikipedia page was edited by an unregistered user, linking him to the separatist Khalistani movement.
"No intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation and deliberate efforts to incitement and user harm - violates our govt's expectation of Safe & Trusted Internet," tweeted Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS Electronics and Technology.
Pictures were shared on social media, stating that "he was named in Khalistan squad for the 2018 under-19 World Cup." The edit history of Arshdeep's Wikipedia page revealed that the user who made those changes was unregistered and was using the internet protocol (IP) address 39.41.171.125.
The user also edited his name to "Major Arshdeep Singh Langra" and a minute later, to "Major Arshdeep Singh Bajwa". Many random changes were done to Singh's game statistics.
The address allocation records showed that the particular address was allocated to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
Indian cricket fraternity has also come out in support of the young pacer who had dropped a crucial catch in the 18th over of the match.
Indian batter Virat Kohli had some strong words in his support and said "Even when I played my first game against Pakistan in Champions Trophy, I played a bad shot and got out. Anyone can make mistakes under pressure. It is natural to feel bad. The team environment is great right now, credit for this goes to management and the captain. So one must accept his mistake, address it and look forward to being in that pressure situation once again," said Kohli in a post-match press conference on Sunday.
He was backed by the former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who stated that no one drops catches purposely and the young seamer should not be criticized.
"Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh. No one drops a catch purposely..we are proud of our boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout Arsh and the team.. Arsh is GOLD," Harbhajan tweeted.
Coming to the match, put to bat first by Pakistan, India put on 181/7 in their 20 overs. Chasing 182, Pakistan crossed the finishing line with one ball to spare and by a margin of five wickets.
( With inputs from ANI )
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