'It was the worst. Can't carry on like animal': SA star painfully recalls 'online abuse' from India fans over SKY wicket
Shamsi, following his typical wicket-celebration routine, took off a boot and pretended to speak into it after dismissing Suryakumar
Tabraiz Shamsi's celebration after dismissing Suryakumar Yadav in the second T20I between India and South Africa in Gqeberha earlier this month became a point of controversy. The left-arm spinner, who initially celebrated the wicket as a potential match-winning moment, has now revealed that the exuberance led to him facing online abuse after the match. Suryakumar's wicket proved key in the match as the Proteas registered a 5-wicket win (DLS method).
Shamsi, following his typical wicket-celebration routine, took off a boot and pretended to speak into it after dismissing Suryakumar, caught at long-off during the second T20I at St George's Park on December 12. The spinner noted that certain Indian fans did not take this particular gesture kindly.
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"People took it in a negative way; they thought it was disrespectful," Shamsi told Cricbuzz.
"I had so much abuse hurled at me. It was probably the worst it's ever been. There was also abuse hurled at my wife. I didn't appreciate that. It's uncalled for. It's fine if you want to have a dig at the players, but to involve family and say nasty things, that pushes it to another level.
“I feel that if players don't say anything about it, then people think they have free licence. More people need to speak up and say it's not OK. Yes, we're all trying our best. Yes, your team might not win or you might not agree with certain things. But you need to behave like a human being. You can't carry on like an animal.”
Taking to his social media a day after the match, Shamsi wrote a strong-worded statement. “It’s just a fun celebration which a lot of kids enjoy and means no disrespect towards the batter… I’ve mentioned that countless times before. All you guys hurling abuse are just giving other genuine cricket loving fans from your country a bad name.. cheers,” he’d write.
But his only resulted in a surge of more hateful comments directed towards the South African cricketer.
