Team India's pacer Mohammed Shami raised no objection towards people chanting religious slogan 'Jai Shri Ram' following the grand inaugural ceremony of Ram Mandir in the holy city of Ayodhya.
The entire nation was completely gripped in the Ram Mandir ceremony, with Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram which was headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024. Several cricketers including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Anil Kumble, Mithali Raj and Virat Kohli were part of the event.
Speaking on News18, Mohammed Shami said that there are some people from every religion who hate particular religion. Team India pacer also touched upon Sajda controversy involving him during the ODI World Cup 2023 match against Sri Lanka.
"In every religion, you will come across 5 to 10 people who won't like the person from the opposite religion. I don't have any objection against it" Shami said.
"Like how the topic of Sajda came up. If Ram Mandir is being built, then what's the problem in saying Jai Shri Ram, say it 1000 times. If I want to say Allahu Akbar then I will say it 1000 times. What difference does it make?" he added.
Mohammed Shami was brutally trolled for stopping doing 'Sajda' while celebrating his five-wicket haul during the ODI World Cup 2023 match against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
However, In an interview with Aaj Tak in December last year, Shami hit back at trolls by saying that he is a proud Indian, adding that he was annoyed by baseless stories around his gesture after his sensational performance against Sri Lanka.
Mohammed Shami likely to be ruled out of Test series against England
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami is likely to be remain unavailable for the Test series against England. The 33-year-old was not added to Test squad for initial two Tests in Hyderabad and Vizag as he was recovering from ankle injury.
It was reported by Cricbuzz that Shami was scheduled to travel to London along with NCA sports science head Nitin Patel to consult an expert on his ankle injury. Shami was undergoing rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy (NCA) to make a comeback into the Indian team. However, Mohammed Shami needed more time to completely recover from the ankle injury.
Mohammed Shami was out of action since ODI World Cup 2023 Final. He was not part of T20I series against Australia as the senior players were given a rest by BCCI after the tournament. Shami was picked in the India Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa but later withdrew as he was yet to recover from injury.
Mohammed Shami is likely to make his return to competitive cricket through IPL 2024.
