The skipper clearly had some unfinished business, sending back a clear signal about what he thought of “fans” who picked on Shami post the defeat by sniping at him with faith-based slurs.

“There’s a good reason why we are playing on the field and not some bunch of spineless people on social media that have no courage to actually speak to any individual in person. They hide behind their identities and go after people through social media, making fun of people and that has become a social entertainment in today’s world, which is so unfortunate and so sad to see,” Kohli said at the press conference.

“This is literally the lowest level of human potential that one can operate at and that’s how I look at these people,” he said.

India’s big-ticket T20 stars Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja had failed to last long against Pakistan even as Kohli made a defiant half-century. While none of the bowlers could get any wicket, Shami’s timeline had objectionable comments that referred to his religion.

Kohli said the team stands “200 per cent” behind Shami. “To me, attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing that a human being can do. Everyone has the right to voice their opinion over what they feel about a certain situation, but I personally have never ever even thought of discriminating (against) anyone over their religion. That’s a very sacred and personal thing to every human being.”

The skipper reminded the trolls of Shami’s contribution to the team’s success over the years.

“People take out their frustrations because they obviously have no understanding of what we do as individuals. They have no understanding of how much effort we put on the field. They have no understanding of the fact that someone like Mohammad Shami has won India a number of matches in the last few years and he has been our primary bowler with Jasprit Bumrah, when it comes to making an impact in games,” he said.

Kohli dared trolls to repeat their attacks on his teammate, adding that the team would rally behind Shami again.

“If people can overlook that and his passion for his country, honestly I don’t even want to waste one minute of my life to give any attention to those people, and neither does Shami and neither does anyone else in the team. We stand by him fully. We are backing him 200 per cent, and all those who have attacked him can come with more force if they want to. Our brotherhood, our friendship within the team, nothing can be shaken,” he said.