Khushdil Shah earned his place in the Pakistan Cricket team after giving stellar performances in domestic cricket however his recent struggle to perform on the international level has created an uproar amongst the fans making him the subject of abuse.
All this talk about mental health but where is our empathy? We should all have asked ourselves this question as almost 30K people chanted “Parchi” upon the dismissal of Khushdil Shah at Gaddafi Stadium last night.
While it’s okay to voice constructive criticism, what’s not is belittling your own player. No one becomes a legend in one day. It takes years of bad days to get to a level of greatness. Just because someone is in the public eye does not mean they are entitled to harassment especially when ups and downs are a part of every single sport, in fact, everyday life.
Twitter Comes Out In His Support
Netizens voiced their support on Twitter last night after reports started surfacing that the player broke down in the dressing room.
“Unacceptable slogans against Khushdil Shah! Dear cricket fans! Life is more than cricket. A small negative gesture may not only affect a cricketer but his family too. No player deserves humiliation no matter zero performance. Sorry Khushdil Shah! Extremely sorry!🙏🙏”
“Pakistani Cricket player Khushdil Shah broke down in the dressing room after being bullied by a crowd of 30,000 people. And these folks were teaching the Indian crowd how to respect the players?”
“Whole lahori crowd chanting “PARCHI PARCHI” on Khushdil Shah?? 30K people degrading our own player?? What the actual hell? Disgusting.”
“The way Kushdil Shah was crying💔. He isn’t performing or what so ever is the reason but calling him parchi & torturing him to this extend that he started crying , pathetic . Its so heartbreaking to see him like this .”
“Ok, let’s get this straight, a parchi is someone who gets in the team based on connections, friendships or PR campaigns. Khushdil is amongst the top charters in domestic T20s and PSL games, so how is he a parchi? He’s there on merit. He’s not delivering that should be criticized”
My dear Pakistani cricket fans, these small words might not have a meaning for us but could cost another person his entire life or career. It is understandable to be frustrated as we see our team crumbling one batsman after another but that does not give us a free pass to abuse any player. We have all seen his performance in domestic cricket which was convincing enough to select him for the team and it’s okay if you disagree but we need to learn to support our team when it’s down only then we are worthy enough to celebrate the wins. We need to be graceful in defeat and criticise our players constructively as criticism should also have certain parameters to it.
