Arshdeep knows he dropped a dolly.

It was a crunch moment.

In a crucial match against Pakistan!

Encomiums were not likely to come his way for this costly drop.

Mollycoddling is still not a national pastime.

India is not yet a ‘woke’ country.

We might never become a liberal heaven.

He had erred big time. Rohit ka gali dena banta tha. Public is also not out of order in venting their ire. No one watches sports as an exercise in self-discipline. Sit at home, mate, if you are too soft to handle this. Which, incidentally, Arsh doesn’t seem to be.

Life goes on. Arsh came back with a half-decent last over. He had recovered by the time we finally lost the match.

By then, the bots had gotten busy. An Indian MP who had kept giggling like a bitch on a show last week when a known Hindustan hater, Shaheed Afridi, poked fun at another Indian MP, tweeted in support of Arsh, but in a manner that smacked of classic victimhood. Decency had required that the MP object when his fellow MP was being lampooned, but he had failed to display any kind of solidarity. No matter. Bhajji has always had some side jokes and deals going on with the Pakistanis. So far, so good. One is free to choose his friends.

Coming back to the bots, they launched a targeted attack on Arsh, lambasting him for being anti-Indian and a Khalistani supporter, and purposefully dropping the catch, and all the gibberish they could think of. That is all bumkum. Indian fans don’t think and operate like that. We are quite forgiving, and prone to reason. No one equates every Sikh brother with a Khalistani supporter. We knew there was dew, and that Arsh is a newbie. Shit happens. Abuse does too. Part and parcel of a celebrity’s life. Take it upon your chin, and move on, buddy.

In his tweet, Bhajji made it sound as if Arsh was under some kind of a racial or communal attack. A year back, Kohli had fallen for the same trick. Communal taunts against Shami had been orchestrated by the Paki bots, not Indian fans. But Virat had no way of knowing that then. He could be forgiven for he didn’t know better. A lot has since been said and discussed about that incident. Every self-respecting Indian now knows how bots target Indian celebs. And yet, Bhajji felt the need to lend support to the propaganda from across the border, and their sleeper cells on the Indian side.

Is Bhajji that naïve? He has played a lot, and has seen enough of the world. Maybe his politics compelled him to act like he did. Maybe he overreacted for he does not realize how professional and strong Arsh is. Maybe Bhajji just likes to butter Afridi and other Pakistani players, and keep them greased. Perhaps the influence of Anwar, Saqlain, Inzy and others who used to invite him to daa’wat and make him listen to a Mullah who nearly ended up converting him, has not yet worn down. Perhaps, there is more than meets the eye. Let us see how much he donates for flood relief.

Meanwhile, Arshdeep must practice catching a tad more for the upcoming matches. And try to bloody land those Yorkers. Medium-paced low full tosses shall keep getting banished to boundaries. Slog does not care for slower ones! And avoid such backers as Bhajji. He can only bring trouble, and teach you to behave badly on the park. Focus on the cricket, and bring laurels for the country.

---

#arshdeep #harbhajansingh #arshdeepsingh #arsh #bhajji #harbhajan #pakibots #bots #abuse #trolling

#bcci #viratkohli #shami #rohitsharma #IndiavsPakistan #asiacup #indvspak #khalistan #communal #sikhs #onlinetrolling