Pakistanis band together in support for Hassan Ali after shameful Indian media coverage

Pakistani cricketers and fans have banded together after the country's heartbreaking loss to Australia in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup to show that they have Hassan Ali's back.

The response from the supporters, who backed the bowler and forgave him for dropping Matthew Wade's crucial catch, came after Indian media tried to give a shameful twist to the entire episode.

Various Indian media outlets ran stories claiming that Pakistani fans were lashing out at Hassan Ali because of the fact that his wife, Samiya Arzoo, is Indian.

"That Hasan’s wife is Indian, gave some of the trolls from Pakistan an extra abusive edge," reads an excerpt from a news article by the Indian Express.

"Hasan Ali trolled mercilessly on religious grounds and marital status after Pakistan's T20 WC exit," reads the headline of WION, an Indian multinational English language news channel known for its biased and hypernationalist coverage of issues concerning Pakistan.

"Pakistanis accuse pacer of fixing match to please his Indian wife," read the subhead in a news story taken from an Indian website, OpIndia.

"After the incident, senior cricketer Shoaib Malik was seen cheering him up, but a certain section of the social media was not convinced. They came down heavily on him, abusing and trolling him mercilessly.

"In this hour, he found support in the most unlikely corner — yes Indian fans," reads an excerpt from the Indian website, news18.com.

Zee News anchor Sudhir Chaudhry claimed on-air that Samiya Arzoo was abused and subjected to immense trolling on social media for the fact that she is Indian.

The reality of the matter is a section of Pakistani social media users targeted the fast bowler and blamed him for Pakistan's defeat at the hands of Australia in the semi-final clash of the T20 World Cup.

To say, however, that Pakistani cricket fans have been abusing and trolling Hassan Ali, based on the tweets or social media observations of a few people, is simply poor journalism.

Several Pakistanis bucked up the fast bowler and gave him a pat on the back for doing his best in the T20 World Cup.

The cricket team also rallied around Hassan Ali, reminding fans how his heroics helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.