“Indian Fans Were Abusing Rohit Sharma…”: Ex-RCB Star Recounts Horrific Incident

File image of Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma© AFP

Rohit Sharma will be in focus when the Indian cricket team gets down to action in the T20I series against Afghanistan in Mohali on Thursday. The Indian cricket team skipper is making a comeback in the format after a over a year. The last time he played a T20I, it was in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup against England. After that the general notion was that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would be gradually phased out of the T20Is.

However, both have been called up for the T20I series against Afghanistan – the last competition for the Indian cricket team ahead of the T20 Cricket World Cup 2024.

Ahead of the series, former India pacer Praveen Kumar recounted an incident were fans were abusing him in 2012.

“I have never got into a fight with anyone. We three were there me, Rohit Sharma and Manoj iwary. We were at the nets. I think it was in Melbourne. Our own abuse us. They were Indian fans who were abusing Rohit Sharma. His patience ended and he shot back at them and I joined. I am telling you that it is our own who abuse us,” Praveen Kumar said on The Lallantop.

During his interview with The Lallantop, Praveen was asked about Virat Kohli – someone he knew from his days in domestic cricket – and he pointed out what makes the star batter a success in international cricket.

“Great guy. He knows how to score runs. That is why he has reached such heights. Working on his body, proper diet – He knows it well. He is my younger brother,” Praveen said.

He was next asked about Gambhir and he once again had a clear answer.

“He is elder. He is my elder brother,” Praveen replied.

The interviewer went on to mention the on-field altercation between Kohli and Gambhir but Praveen quickly responded to the question and expressed his opinion on the subject.

“It does not matter if the elder brother scolds the younger one. He is older, he can scold him.”

Earlier. Praveen said that ball-tampering used to be a common practice among players and added that Pakistan bowlers used to do it a bit more than others to boost their reverse swing.

“Everyone does a little bit; they (Pakistan bowlers) do it a bit more. That’s what I’ve heard. Now, there are cameras everywhere. Earlier, everyone used to do it. And everyone knows as well. They would scratch it from one side. But you need to know how to use that skill, too. If I scratch the ball and give to someone, one will need to have the skills to reverse-swing it. One has to learn that,” he explained.

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