The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla defended the Indian captain after a Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed fat-shamed Rohit Sharma.
Mohamed created a stir when she commented Rohit Sharma was ‘fat for a sportsperson’ and the ‘most unimpressive’ captain in India’s history during India’s Champions Trophy 2025 match against New Zealand.
Following backlash and pressure from the leadership, Shama deleted the post on social media.
Saikia has expressed his disappointment over the controversial remarks made by Congress National Spokesperson Shama Mohamed regarding men’s team captain, Rohit Sharma.
Devajit Saikia described the comments as baseless and derogatory urging the nation to rally behind Rohit Sharma and his team during the Champions Trophy 2025.
“These comments are baseless and derogatory. When the team is playing in the Champions Trophy and doing well, this is the time when one needs to support Team India,” Saikia said. “These comments shouldn’t be passed.”
Meanwhile, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla also defended Rohit Sharma, emphasising the he is among one of the fittest cricketers.
“It is her personal views and tweets. The party has nothing to do with it. Rohit is fit and doing well. Our team is doing well under his leadership. He is a great player,” Shukla said.
In her now-deleted post, Mohamed Rohti Sharma “Need to lose weight! And of course the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had! (sic)”
The Indian captain has rarely missed games due to fitnes concerns. The Indian team’s strength and conditioning coach, Ankit Kaliyar, previously spoke about Rohit’s fitness stating that the skipper comfortably clears the Yo-Yo test.
“Rohit Sharma is a fit player. He has good fitness. He looks a bit bulky, but he always passes the Yo-Yo test. He is as fit as Virat Kohli.”
“He looks like he is bulky, but we have seen him on the field. His agility and mobility are amazing. He is among the fittest cricketers,” told Ankit in 2023.
Rohit Sharma has recently crossed 11,000 ODI runs and has more than 8,000 test runs. He was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in 2007 and played a crucial role in the team’s 2013 Champions Trophy triumph.
He also lead the side to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup campaign becoming the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni.
