World Cup-winning former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has condemned the trolling of a few Australian players and their families by a section of fans of the sport after the World Cup 2023 final. India lost to Australia by 6 wickets in a one-sided final as Pat Cummins’s men went on to lift their 6th World Cup trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 21.
Harbhajan Singh took to social media to stress that “sanity and dignity” are important after a fantastic World Cup in India and urged the trolls to stop targeting the players and their families.
“Reports of trolling of family members of Australian cricket players is completely in bad taste. We played well but lost the final to better cricket by the Aussies. That’s it. Why troll the players and their families? Requesting all cricket fans to stop such behaviour. Sanity and dignity are more important,” Harbhajan Singh said in a social media post.
Reports of trolling of family members of Australian cricket players is completely in bad taste. We played well but lost the final to better cricket by the Aussies. That’s it. Why troll the players and their families? Requesting all cricket fans to stop such behaviour. Sanity and…
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 21, 2023
After India lost the Cricket World Cup Final, Vini Raman, the wife of Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell, found herself at the center of a social media storm. As Australia celebrated its triumph over India, Vini Raman faced a barrage of hateful and vile direct messages from a section of fans.
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Taking to Instagram, Raman shared a carousel of photographs documenting her journey and the Australian team’s success. However, it was her message that caught significant attention. In a powerful rebuke to the trolls, she underscored the absurdity of the vitriol directed at her, emphasizing that one can have Indian roots and still support Australia, the country where she was born and raised, and more importantly, the team for which her husband plays.
The abuse wasn’t limited to Raman. Travis Head, whose match-winning century was crucial in securing Australia’s victory, and his family also became targets of online harassment.
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Vini Raman’s Instagram post was a defiant stand against this negativity. She called for perspective, urging people to focus their energy on more pressing world issues rather than spewing hate over a game of cricket.
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Travis Head emerged as the hero of Australia’s World Cup final triumph as he hit a sensational 137 off just 120 balls, helping the eventual campions chase down 241 on a tricky pitch in Ahmedabad against the powerful Indian bowling attack. Glenn Maxwell came up with an all-round show, chipping in with both bat and ball throughout the tournament. His double hundred against Afghanistan in a crunch game after Australia were reduced to 92 for 7 in their chase of 201 is being regarded as one of the greatest ODI knocks.