India captain Rohit Sharma has been ecstatic after leading his team to the T20 World Cup championship in Barbados on June 29. He has received abundant love, respect, and passion in return for breaking India’s trophy drought in the ICC. India won the T20 World Cup, becoming the first team to go undefeated and winning their first ICC title in eleven years. His daring batting approach at the top of the order and his ability to rally the troops during fielding was very admirable. With the possible exception of July 8, he has been the centre of attention for all the right reasons over the past few weeks.
Amid all the festivities and unending praise, Rohit Sharma angered supporters on Monday night by altering his profile photo on the social media platform X. Rohit’s photo selection infuriated many of his admirers, who charged him with demeaning the Indian flag.
While India’s T20 World Cup victory featured many memorable moments, Rohit decided to use a photograph of himself planting the Indian flag at the Kensington Oval in Barbados following India’s victory over South Africa in the championship match as his new display picture on X. Fans felt that Rohit’s action was unacceptable on a foreign land because it symbolises possession of that region, even though his purpose may have been to demonstrate India’s superiority on the cricket pitch.
The condition of the Indian flag in Rohit’s profile photo, however, was the primary issue. In the picture, the tricolour was visible touching the earth. A section from the 1971 Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act—which states, “The flag shall not be allowed intentionally to touch the ground, the floor, or trail in water”—was even emphasised by supporters.
