Harbhajan Singh’s wife responds to backlash, clarifies why Singh supported Shahid Afridi

Harbhajan Singh’s wife, Geeta Basra has responded to the trolling he received by Indians after he extended humanitarian support to Shahid Afridi’s foundation amid coronavirus crisis.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Geeta said, “Harbhajan knows what his country means to him and doesn’t want to explain an act of humanity. He lives for India and will die for India. His country will always come first. Whenever he has played cricket, he did it with his heart. And everyone knows what India means to him.”

She continued, “This goodwill gesture was to help Afridi, with whom they have played cricket and have years of friendship. Afridi is doing his bit for his country. They tried spreading the word to their fans all over the world, inspiring more people to support his good work.”

“Let’s not bring religion or anything else into this. Even the virus isn’t making any discrimination. They would’ve done the same if anyone from any of the other teams like West Indies or England would’ve sought help,” Geeta added.

Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh had earlier this month faced massive criticism for supporting Afridi in his fight against coronavirus.

Both players in a video message had urged people to contribute and called on other cricketers in the two countries to make similar appeals. However, their own people had trolled them and called them out for offering their help to Pakistanis.

Yuvraj, at that time, had responded to the matter by saying, “I really don’t understand how a message to help the most vulnerable gets blown out of proportion! All I tried to achieve was to help people in our respective countries by providing healthcare. My intention was not to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

However, the spinner Harbhajan, kept silent on the issue. The bowler’s wife has now spoken up on why his husband decided to not respond to the criticism.