Arshdeep Singh faces vicious trolling; BJP’s Sirsa exposes Pakistan’s nefarious propaganda

In yet another example of Pakistan's nefarious propaganda, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh faced online trolling after India's loss in the Asia Cup tie on Sunday. After Singh dropped a relatively simple catch of Asif Ali in the 18th over when he hadn't opened his account, the Pakistani batsman scored 16 runs off his next 7 balls to ensure his side's victory. Despite the fact that he bowled a very tight last over and even took Ali's scalp, he faced 'Khalistan' slurs on social media with a concerted attempt to blame him for India's defeat. 

Exposing some Pakistani accounts for badmouthing Arshdeep Singh and Sikhs in general, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "I wholeheartedly condemn Pakistan’s anti-Sikh narrative & deliberate targeting of Arshdeep Singh to portray him as the reason of India's loss. The media channels, journalists & influencer accounts of Pak are hitting at Arshdeep in context of Khalistan". Sharing screenshots of some of these troll accounts, Sirsa urged the Centre to take strict against this propaganda allegedly unleashed by Pakistani agencies. 

Retired cricketers also defended Arshdeep Singh:

Pakistan beats India in Super 4 game

In a heartbreak for Indian fans, Pakistan won the first match in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup by 5 wickets at the Dubai International Cricket stadium. To begin with, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the all-important toss and elected to field first. While India bolstered its line-up by including Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi in the side, Azam replaced the injured Shahnawaz Dhani with Mohammad Hasnain. Sticking to the mantra of being aggressive from the beginning, India managed to score 62 runs in the powerplay.

Even after Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul failed to make their start count, Virat Kohli gave another indication that he is back in form by slamming his 2nd successive fifty in the Asia Cup. While the Men in Blue were poised for a 200-plus total after amassing 93 runs in the first 10 overs, they settled for 181 in the end after Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Hooda fell cheaply. With a 44-ball 60, Kohli was the top scorer for India whereas spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan were the key stars for Pakistan having bagged one and two wickets respectively.

In response, Pakistan got off to a sedate start with Bishnoi getting Babar Azam's scalp in the 4th over with 22 runs on the board. Even Fakhar Zaman struggled to increase the scoring rate and holed out to Kohli at long-on. At the fall of Zaman's wicket in the 9th over, the game took a decisive turn as Pakistan sent Nawaz up the order. He changed the complexion of the match with a quickfire 42 from 20 balls which included 6 fours and two sixes. Though Pakistan required only 47 runs for a win from the last 5 overs with 8 wickets remaining, India ensured a very close finish by getting the wickets of Nawaz and Mohammad Rizwan.