BCCI blasts Congress's Shama Mohamed for fat-shaming Rohit Sharma: 'It may have demoralising effect...'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has responded to the controversial remarks made by Congress leader, Dr. Shama Mohamed, about Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma. According to an NDTV report, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia called the remarks 'unfortunate', saying making such comments in the middle of an ICC event could have a demoralising effect on the morale of a cricketer.

"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 players. 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," BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia told as quoted by NDTV in an exclusive chat.

Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed stirred controversy with her remarks on Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma, questioning his fitness and leadership following India's decisive victory against New Zealand in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.

Shama, in her now deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), had written, "@ImRo45 is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And, of course, the most unimpressive captain India has ever had."

She continued 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.”

Also read: Who is Shama Mohamed, the Congress leader under fire for fat-shaming Indian skipper Rohit Sharma?

The politician's remarks triggered a huge controversy, drawing reactions from both cricketing and political spectrums of the country. BJP was quick to hit back accusing Shama of "body shaming" the stalwart batter and took a dig at the Congress party's electoral performance.

“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!”

Despite the outrage, Shama defended her remarks by comparing Rohit to past Indian captains and said she was being targeted unnecessarily.

“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.

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?"

Also read: Rohit Sharma body-shaming row: Congress leader deletes post after backlash, cites 'democratic right' (WATCH)