Congress leader Shama Mohamed's old post on Virat Kohli resurfaces amid Rohit Sharma fat-shaming row

Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed faced a backlash over her now-deleted post on X questioning Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma's fitness. While the row is fresh, Mohamed's old social media post on batter Virat Kohli has resurfaced on the internet.

“Virat Kohli plays a British invented game, makes crores from endorsing foreign brands, got married in Italy, names Hershelle Gibbs his favourite cricketer and Angelique Kerber the best tennis player, but tells those who love foreign batsmen to leave India,” Mohamed had said in a post on X on November 2018.

The Congress leader's comments were in response to an incident in which Kohli found himself in fresh controversy. Video footage on social media showed the then-Indian cricket captain saying that “those who prefer English and Australian batsmen should not live in India.” Kohli was reading out mean messages addressed to him by fans and responding to them.

The congress leader's remark was in response to Kohli's comment at that time.

The fan, as read by Kohli, said he enjoyed watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians. He also called Kohli an “overrated batsman.”

The Rohit Sharma fat-shaming row

In the latest row, Mohamed called Rohit Sharma 'fat' and the most 'unimpressive' Indian skipper to date. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Dr Shama Mohamed wrote, “@ImRo45 is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And ofcourse the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had ! [sic]”

Mohamed's comments came amid the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in which India plays Australia in the semifinal clash on March 4.

When a Pakistani journalist replied to Mohamed's post, the Congress spokesperson doubled down and replied, “What is so world-class about him when compared to his predecessors like Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, Kohli, Kapil dev, Shastri & the rest! He is a mediocre captain as well as a mediocre player who got lucky to be the Captain of India [sic].”

Congress asks Shama Mohamed to remove post

Congress distanced itself from Shama Mohamed's remarks. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera posted on X and said that Shama's remarks do not reflect the party's position.

"Shama Mohammed, National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress, made certain remarks about a cricketing legend that do not reflect the party's position. She has been asked to delete the concerned social media posts from X and has been advised to exercise greater caution in the future," Khera said.