- Tuesday, March 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Life has not been the same for India seamer Arshdeep Singh ever since he dropped that match-losing catch against Pakistan in the Super Four clash against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday (4). The 23-year-old Sikh cricketer gave a second life to the dangerous Asif Ali in the 18th over and even though he came back strong to pick the same batter in the final over and tried his best to defend six runs, he was mercilessly trolled after the match.
While there was cricketing criticism, some even went to the extent of vandalising his Wikipedia profile page and adding that he has links to the separatist Khalistani movement. India’s information technology ministry had to step in to put things in order before the matter snowballed further.
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What is Singh’s take on the entire episode?
While the cricketer himself hasn’t posted anything on the matter on his social media handles since Sunday’s match, his parents said he was little touched by the row and laughed it off.
Darshan, Singh’s father who works as the chief of security in a private company, told The Indian Express after landing in Chandigarh on Monday (5), “Spoke to Arshdeep before boarding. His exact words were, ‘I am laughing at all these tweets and messages. I am only going to take positives from it. This incident has only given me more confidence.”
Darshan was at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with Baljeet, Singh’s mother, to watch the mega clash. The latter said that the entire India team was backing the young cricketer, something which ace batter Virat Kohli, who hit a half-century in the match, also said in the post-match conference.
“Arshdeep told us that the whole Indian team is supporting him,” Baljeet said.
When Darshan was asked about his reaction to the treatment that Singh received, he said, “As a parent, it feels really bad. He is only 23. I don’t want to say much about trolls. You can’t shut everyone’s mouth. Without fans, there is no game. There are some who stand by you no matter what and others who can’t digest a single loss. But at the end of the day, only one team can win.”
India take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday (6) and Afghanistan on Thursday (8) and will have to win both matches if they stand a chance to qualify for the title round on Sunday (11).
