Team India bagged silver at the Commonwealth Games Women’s Cricket Competition 2022 on Sunday. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side came pretty close to clinching gold but ultimately lost out to Australia by 9 runs.
Captain Harmanpreet led from the front with a valiant 65, but other batters failed to contribute enough, and India faced a defeat in the final at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Despite the loss, many former cricketers and fans from across the world hailed India Women for fighting it hard in their debut CWG appearance.
However, the defeat of India Women didn’t go down well with former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin as he minced no words in criticising the Women in Blue.
Azharuddin took to his official Twitter handle after the game and termed Indian batting as ‘rubbish’ and reckoned the Women lacked ‘common sense’.
“Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter,” wrote Azharuddin after the game.
Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter. #INDvsAUS #WomensCricket #CWG22
— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) August 7, 2022
Azhar’s tweet quickly went viral on the internet, and several fans came in support of the women’s team, slamming the former India men’s captain for his remarks.
While some users asked Azharuddin to use better language, others urged him to be respectful towards the women’s team and appreciate them for their efforts as they clinched the silver medal at the prestigious event.
Former India Women’s coach WV Raman asked Azharuddin to go easy as these things happen in the game.
“You seem really disappointed, @azharflicks .. Go easy, Azzu… It happens..,” tweeted Raman.
You seem really disappointed @azharflicks.. Go easy Azzu.. It happens.. https://t.co/PH0w4LLOsB
— W V Raman (@wvraman) August 8, 2022
Here is how fans reacted:
This is the respect the former India cricketer has for the Silver medal winning CWG Women’s team. His exploits include leading India in 3 World Cups – Go check how many he matches “he gave away on a ‘silver’ platter” https://t.co/8Tq8U45RGY
— Venkat Parthasarathy (@Venkrek) August 8, 2022
Click bait. So sad to see this from one of the good players to have played this game. Oh, by the way, what progress has HCA made in the last few years? https://t.co/BDUmeqfCe6
— Krishna Tejasvi (@krishnatejasvi_) August 8, 2022
Support ke naam pe zero aur criticism ke naam pe hero, ye hai duniya ka dastur
Btw gave away a winning game, wasn’t this a theme in the 90s .. just wondering 🤔
— Adi (@aaditea__) August 7, 2022
Took us back to the 90s when you were the captain https://t.co/Fo1U5Mh6PW
— Abhishek ︎ (@ImAbhishek7_) August 8, 2022
Excuse me sir, but how many world cup finals, okay semifinals, okay ANY knockout games did your team win against the Aussies in your day? And for your information, this team has WON a silver medal at the CWG! Show them some freaking respect, if you’re capable of that, of course!
— Siddharth Dixit (@sid_dixit_25) August 7, 2022
Everyone has a bad day and this time it’s their bad day and don’t forget they won silver medal.and be respectful if they lost the England game you are not going to tweet this so appreciate their game
— Aneesh Malik (@AneeshMalik7) August 8, 2022
Irony that is😭
India under @azharflicks in ICC WorldCups against Australia:
Matches 3
Won 0
Lost 3
Win% 0.00What a fabulous record 😻 https://t.co/luEi25nr9W
— Ashutosh Mittal (@IAshutoshMittal) August 8, 2022
These things happen. Remember the mammoth 223 run partnership by Azhar and Ajay Jadeja against SL in ’97, when we were chasing 303 and were at 64/4 at one point. In the last 3 overs IND needed 24 with 6 in hand. Azhar and Jadeja could not see us home. IND lost by 2 runs. https://t.co/hubdecJ9ye
— Biswarup Ghatak (@BishOnTheRockz) August 8, 2022
This tweet wasn’t expected from a legend like you https://t.co/yZ9HgpFHQO
— Subham Abhishek (@IamSAbhishek) August 8, 2022
They tried till the end. Stop badmouthing https://t.co/mTGZyb7o88
— நாத்திகன் (@dineshARRfan) August 8, 2022
Same feeling. 1996 SF. We never stopped believing and backing the team. Neither should you. https://t.co/vPvrZYv3dl
— Aswin (@aswinpalanivel) August 8, 2022
Not expected this from you sir.. You should understand how cricket is and how fast the game can change.. https://t.co/FWbzEWAYZa
— Ritik Singh Rajput (@SiRitik13) August 8, 2022
Men’s team that had Sachin Tendulkar, harbhajan singh, VVS Laxman had finished 9th in commonwealth games. So a silver is definitely an upgrade, Azhar sir 😃 https://t.co/gM6VzDI3JL
— s (@_sectumsempra18) August 7, 2022