India captain Virat Kohli slammed social media trolls targeting Mohammed Shami as pathetic on Saturday, calling the trolls “a bunch of spineless people who have got no courage to speak to any individual in person.” Shami, the only Muslim in the side, was viciously trolled and abused after India lost their opening T20 World Cup tie against Pakistan last Sunday.

“To me, attacking someone over their religion is the most pathetic thing that a human being can do,” Kohli said in his virtual press meet ahead of Sunday’s second game against New Zealand in Dubai. “I have never thought of discriminating someone over their religion. That’s a very sacred and personal thing to every human being and that should be left there. People take out their frustration as they have no understanding of how much effort we put on the field.”

He reminded those trolling Shami of the Amroha-born speedster’s passion to play for the country. “They have no understanding of the fact that Shami has won India N number of matches in the last few years and has been our primary bowler along with Jasprit Bumrah when it comes to making an impact in Test cricket.

“If people can overlook that and his passion for the country, I honestly don’t even want to waste one minute of my life to give any attention to those people; neither does Shami or anyone else in the team. The team stands by him and we are backing him 200 percent.

“All those who have attacked him can come with more force if they want to, our brotherhood, our friendship within the team cannot be shaken. I can guarantee you that as captain of the team that we have built a culture where these things will not infiltrate into the environment even .0001 percent. That is an absolute guarantee from my side.”

After Shami was trolled by anonymous social media handles, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble among past stalwarts took to tweet their support for Shami.