Calling Khushdil Shah a ‘parchi’ was a real lousy move

Everyone has bad days — no one can consistently deliver their best, it varies. Cricketer Khushdil Shah is not on top of his game at the moment but instead of showing empathy, fans berated him at the Pakistan versus England series finale. They yelled “parchi” at him, implying that he didn’t get where he is because of his accomplishments.

On Sunday, the Pakistani cricket team was dealt a crushing defeat at the hands of their opponents — they were out by a large margin of 67 runs. This was the last of the seven-match series as well as England’s fourth win. Held at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, it was admittedly a high-pressure game but to release your nervous energy onto someone else is not okay and netizens are standing up for Shah, who was singled out and harassed by the crowd.

Player Imam Ul Haq, who has been a target of similar treatment in the past, stood up for his peer. “I would like to request our fans to avoid such rants at any player as it can badly impact the player’s health and try to support them like you always do, regardless of the results. We play for YOU, we play for PAKISTAN. Stay blessed,” he wrote.

Twitter users were disgusted that people degraded their own player. Several of them pointed out the effect bullying can have on one’s mental and emotional health, especially after pictures of the player potentially in tears started making rounds on Twitter.

Fans condemned such behaviour and rightfully pointed out that if he’s not playing well, criticise his performance instead of bullying him, that too on the basis of speculation.

Fans want action to be taken against people exhibiting such behaviour.

They sent Shah words of encouragement, asking him to ignore the haters.

It is important to think about the consequences and impact your actions carry, especially when there are other people involved. First of all, being unkind is unacceptable, period. But to publicly gang up on a single person is just nasty.

Plus, the pattern of people supporting players only when they’re performing well is unfair. Ups and downs are part of any game, especially cricket and ESPECIALLY Pakistani cricket. If you’re a fan of the Pakistani cricket team, you know this well.

If the crowd was using “parchi” as a way to comment on his performance, they could have done so directly. Say he played poorly, but don’t make claims you can’t back up and have little evidence. Additionally, the fact that he is in the national cricket team means he’s got what it takes and we have seen what he’s capable of in the PSL.

After such a disheartening experience, we just hope Shah is doing alright.