Farhan Akhtar praised captain Virat Kohli for coming out in support of pacer Mohammad Shami after he was subjected to nasty online trolling following the Indian cricket team’s loss to Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match. Sharing Virat’s comments against the ‘pathetic’ attacks, Farhan tweeted, “Well said captain.”

Swara Bhasker also shared the comments on Twitter with clapping emojis, while filmmaker Sudhir Mishra wrote, “The captain has spoken!” Sonam Kapoor and Richa Chadha retweeted appreciation posts about Virat.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Virat hit out at the ‘bunch of spineless people on social media’ who abused Shami online after the India vs Pakistan match. “To me, attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing a human being can do,” he said. He added that their ‘brotherhood cannot be shaken’.

“We are doing what we are doing on the field and none of these people (social media trolls) are even in the vicinity to even imagine doing something like that. They do not have the courage or the spine to do that. That is how I see things,” Virat said.

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Pakistan won by 10 wickets on Sunday, registering their first-ever victory against India in a World Cup tournament. Shami was the most expensive bowler of the lot for India, giving away 43 runs in 3.5 overs in the match.

Earlier this week, Aftab Shivdasani also supported Shami. Retweeting a tweet by commentator Harsha Bhogle, which said that fans abusing Shami should stop watching cricket, he wrote, “I second that. Shami has always given 100% for India and doesn’t deserve this. #IStandWithShami.”

Several former cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have also come out in support of Shami.