Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah, who is currently play-ing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), was censured by social media users for body shaming his fellow countryman Azam Khan.
During the match between Khulna Tigers and Comilla Victorians on Tuesday, Naseem first initiated a banter with Azam and tried to hug him. However, the wicketkeeper-batter pushed him away.
Later, the speedster mocked Azam’s walking style on camera. The Karachi-born player, who is the son of former wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan, was unaware of Naseem’s actions.
The 19-year-old pacer did not know that his ges-tures would be criticised over the internet.
The netizens, taking to Twitter, slammed Naseem for body shaming Azam. A video from a Bangladesh Premiere League match between the Khulna Tigers and Comilla Victorians has been circulating on social media where Shah came close and tried to embrace Khan who pushed him away after an exchange of words. After that, Shah followed Khan and held his arms up in imitation of the unaware Khan’s walk. What may have been considered funny by the 19-year-old bowler was branded body shaming by netizens. They did not want the “bullying” to be mistaken for “teasing”. No excuses are acceptable. For Twitter users, 19 is old enough.
Khan may have not said anything but that doesn’t mean he is unaffected. Netizens pointed out that the batsman has been vocal about this on multiple occa-sions.
They want Shah to do better. Just because Khan chooses to transform negativity into motivation does not mean he is inviting it. In a recent interview with ESPN Cric Info, the 24-year-old batsman revealed that he was criticised because of his weight right after he got his big break in the PSL. He was told that his body is “not suited for the elite game [level] of cricket”. —Agencies
