Hateful comments dominated Indian cricket star Mohammed Shami's Twitter feed after he mocked Pakistan legend, Shoaib Akhtar, with his “karma” post following Babar Azam and his boys' loss to England in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday.

Social media trolls targeted the Indian cricketer following Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Shami's ugly Twitter spat after Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking 5-wicket loss to England in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday.

 

The result left millions of Pakistan supporters and their current and former players, including Shoaib Akhtar in shock. Shoaib Akhtar even took to Twitter to display his emotions after the defeat of Babar Azam and his boys as he shared a “broken heart” emoji on the microblogging site. Shoaib Akhtar's post prompted veteran Indian speedster Mohammed Shami to respond, who blamed the Pakistan team's “karma” for their loss. “Sorry brother. It's called Karma,” Mohammed Shami wrote.

Mohammed Shami's tweet infuriated Shoaib Akhtar, who shot back at the India pacer with a screenshot of a tweet from Indian cricket pundit Harsha Bhogle.

“And this what you call sensible tweet..” Akhtar wrote on Twitter, with a picture of Harsha Bhogle's tweet which read: “Credit to Pakistan. Few teams would have defended 137 the way they did. Best bowling team.”

It is pertinent to note that Mohammed Shami's reaction to Shoaib Akhtar's tweet wasn't without a reason. The former Pakistan pacer had criticized Mohammed Shami's selection in the Indian cricket team's squad for the T20 World.

Mohammed Shami was originally not named in the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia but was included after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was forced to sit out of the prestigious competition due to an injury.

Pakistan progressed through to the final after earning a comprehensive victory over New Zealand in the first semifinal in Sydney while England reached there by thumping India by 10 wickets at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

In the title clash, the Three Lions were just too good in all the departments of the game. Bowling first, Jos Buttler and company restricted Pakistan to a below-par total of 137/8, thanks to Sam Curran's exceptional figures of 3/12.

Subsequently, a Ben Stokes masterclass gave them their second T20 World Cup title. Ben Stokes not only remained unbeaten on 52, but he also struck the winning runs off the bowling of Mohammad Wasim on the final ball of the 19th over.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam acknowledged that his side was short of at least 20 runs in the final. Additionally, he pointed to Shaheen Shah’s injury who could only bowl 2 overs in the match before limping off the ground.

“Congratulations to England team, we felt like everyone came here to support us, thank you so much. The way the team has gone in the last four matches, incredible. I told the boys to play their natural game, with freedom. We were 20 runs short but fight to the last over was unbelievable. Our bowling is one of the best but unfortunately Shaheen’s injury cost us a different result, but that’s part of the game,” Babar Azam said after Ben Stokes ended his side’s dream of winning their second T20 World Cup crown.

Earlier, former Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi hit back at Mohammed Shami for his “Karma” post on Twitter.

Speaking on a Pakistani television channel Shahid Afridi argued that both retired and active players should avoid making controversial statements.

“We cricketers are like ambassadors. We should always try to end (the rift) that is between the two nations (India and Pakistan). I think things like these should not happen that spread hatred among people. If we do this, then the common man who is not literate and foolish, what should we expect from him? We should build relationship and sports is such a thing that will keep our relationship better with them forever. We want to play against them and want to see them in Pakistan,” Shahid Afridi said on Sama TV.

“Even if you are a retired player, you should not do such things. You are playing with the team currently, you should avoid such things,” Shahid Afridi noted.

Even the legendary Wasim Akram jumped into the escalating controversy as he lashed out at cricketers of India and Pakistan over the issue.

Reacting to the Twitter battle between Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Shami, Wasim Akram urged players from both countries to remain “neutral” in such situations.

“We should stay neutral. Indians are patriotic about their country, and I'm fine with that, we are patriotic about our country. But instead of that, jalti pe tel daalna, tweet pe tweet karna, just don't do it man,” Wasim Akram said on A Sports.

Another Pakistan great Misbah-ul-Haq echoed similar sentiments about the ugly episode.

“You shouldn't do this just for the sake of few ‘Likes'. Cricketers, whether from India or Pakistan or any other country, we are all a family. So we should respect each other and give our opinions respectfully. We also have a certain responsibility,” Misbah-ul-Haq added.