Jyoti Malhotra, a journalist at the Print wore the hat of a cricketing expert during the India- Afghanistan clash on Saturday. Malhotra seemed agitated after India won a thriller against its friendly neighbour Afghanistan. She showcased her cricketing ‘expertise’ and blamed Indians for not displaying their sportsmanship after their victory.
The match between two sides was played in the highest sense of cricketing spirit with both sides sweating out to emerge victorious in the game. A true nail-biter, which went down to the wire, was appreciated by the fans of both countries. In fact, Indians were happy for their neighbouring team while appreciating the fine performance put forward by the Afghan team.
However, Lutyens peaceniks like Jyoti Malhotra seems to be very disturbed after India’s victory as she took to Twitter to vent out her frustration against the Indian team, particularly against Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Malhotra brought in equivalence between Pakistan and Afghanistan by stating that Indian team thought it was playing against Pakistan rather than Afghanistan and it was evident to her with Indians roaring to celebrate every time an Afghan wicket fell.
The roar from Indian fans when cricketer Rashid Khan gets out makes you think Ind is playing Pak not Afghanistan. The Afghans r keeping @viratkohil & Indian cricketers on their toes #INDvAFG
— Jyoti Malhotra (@jomalhotra) June 22, 2019
It would almost appear like Jyoti wanted India to give Afghanistan a walk over. However, what she failed to realise is that even though India and Afghanistan are friendly neighbours, in sports, no side would ever let the other side simply win. It is intriguing that while ‘liberals’ themselves want politics to be kept out of sports, in the India-Afghanistan match, politics is all that seemed to matter.
Malhotra tried to take a dig at Indian skipper Virat Kohli stating how he should recognise that fighters won’t give up till the end insinuating that Kohli should learn from the Afghan team. Further, in an attempt to create an elusive ‘hostility’ between two neighbours, Jyoti Malhotra brings in Mohammad Nabi to further her propaganda. She thanks Nabi for “teaching India a few things”, “including sportsman spirit”.
#Nabi !!! Thank you for teaching India a few things, including sportsman spirit #INDvAFG
— Jyoti Malhotra (@jomalhotra) June 22, 2019
One doesn’t really know what Jyoti was upset about. One can only guess that perhaps Jyoti has a problem with Virat Kohli’s aggressive play and thus, has managed to conflate aggression and a will to win as bad ‘sportsman spirit’.
At one point, it seemed like Jyoti Malhotra was randomly tweeting to anyone who would listen.
Even after the match was over, with India winning as soon as Shami took that hat-trick, Jo Malhotra was wondering what would happen next.
Mohammed Shami has a hat-trick. Now, what?? #INDvAFG
— Jyoti Malhotra (@jomalhotra) June 22, 2019
Every time India plays a match, several self-proclaimed ‘liberals’ proceed to deride the country and the Men in Blue. Often, such elements view India’s aggression on the field and the fans’ chants of victory ‘jingoistic’ and a manifestation of ‘hyper-nationalism’. In this case, Jyoti Malhotra seems to deride a well-fought victory for India. Earlier, when India defeated Pakistan, several “liberals” wanted Pakistan to win just to see “hyper-nationalism” defeated. Others thought it was a ‘cold-hearted victory’ and in the process, tried to belittle India’s victory over Pakistan in the marquee event.
Virat Kohli has been a great ambassador of cricket. The hate coming against him for his aggressive behaviour on the field is unreal. The man wants to win the matches for India and that it shows whenever he is out to play. Even then he respects the opposition and always praised them, on and off the field. In 2016, Kohli gifted his bat to Pakistani bowler Mohammad Amir, who came back from a 5-year ban for spot-fixing. Kohli won the heart of all the cricket fans during the India Australia match in the current edition of World Cup when he asked Indian crowd to applaud instead of booing Steve Smith for the sin committed a year back. He is known for his love for the kids and never says no to them for autographs or photographs.
