No one can stop me from doing ‘sajda': Shami

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Indian pacer Mohammad Shami has belatedly pushed back against the notion that after bagging five wickets against Sri Lanka in the cricket world cup back in November, he was going to perform a ‘sajda’ (Islamic act of prostration as thanks to God) but stopped because of A possible backlash.

The clip in question had gone viral but Shami insisted that he was merely exhausted after putting in a lot of effort so he went to his knees. He added that no one could stop him from going into a ‘sajda’.

The pacer made the comments during an Aaj Tak conclave on Wednesday. “It was the sixth over in which I took my fifth wicket. I was pushing my limit. I figured that since three wickets were gone, let me just finish it off by bagging five wickets in my remaining four overs. I was giving 200 per cent, beyond my ability even. I was tired. I was able to beat him(Kasun Rajitha) but wasn’t able to take his wicket. When I finally did, I went on my knees. My teammate held my hair, so it looked like I was falling forward. People started to make memes out of it. These people must have a lot of free time to do this,” Shami said.

“If one wants to do a sajda, who would stop one? I won’t stop you from practising your religion. You won’t stop me from practising mine. If I wanted to do it, I would have done it. What is the hindrance in it? I’m a Muslim and proudly state that I am. I’m an Indian and take pride in it,” he said.