Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, claimed that he did not have any knowledge of the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants that were aimed at Mohammed Shami during the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, which took place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
On Monday, March 13th, the fourth match of the series concluded with a draw due to the difficulty faced by bowlers from both teams on a surface that was not very helpful.
Rohit Sharma on ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants against Mohammed Shami
India secured their spot in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) by winning the first two Tests, following Sri Lanka’s loss to New Zealand in the Christchurch Test. A video went viral on social media during the Ahmedabad Test, in which the crowd at the stadium could be heard chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ towards Shami. Rohit Sharma was questioned regarding the incident.
“I am absolutely unaware of Jai Shri Ram chants for Shami. I just heard it for the first time. I don’t know what has happened there,” Sharma said.
‘Shami Jai Shri Ram..’ slogans at the India Aus cricket match in Ahmedabad. Now you decide whether this is the appropriate slogan for an India cricket test match. Or is this a political rally or religious meet? pic.twitter.com/UKYq1UayBB
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 12, 2023
During India’s 2-1 victory over Australia, Shami was one of the team’s top performers. He contributed crucial breakthroughs by taking nine wickets in three matches with an average of 28.22.
Players not part of IPL 2023 will leave for UK
The World Test Championship (WTC) final is scheduled to take place at The Oval on June 7. However, many of the Indian players who will participate in the summit clash will also be part of the IPL 2023, which will take place from March 31 to May 28. The league stage of IPL ends on May 21. Rohit mentioned that due to the short time gap between the two tournaments, players who are not part of the IPL 2023 playoffs may be sent to the UK early for the WTC final preparations.
“I don’t think it will be a huge problem but yeah, look I believe in preparation and preparations will be key for us come the finals. Around 21st May, there will be six teams who will possibly be out of IPL playoffs contention and so whichever players are available, we will try and find time to get them to the UK early as possible and get some time and we will monitor as much as possible. Look, I think it’s quite critical for us, we’re going to keep in constant touch with all players who are going to play that final and monitor their workload and see what’s happening with them. In fact we are sending some Dukes Balls to all fast bowlers and see if they get some time to bowl with that,” he said.
