Shikha Pandey slams fans who trolled her for her remarks on the Mohammed Siraj - Philip Salt argument

Indian women's team fast bowler Shikha Pandey has issued a clarification following the she received criticism for her remark on Mohammed Siraj and Philip Salt's behavior in the match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last Saturday.

The Capitals thumped Faf du Plessis's men by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in a 182-run chase. During the fifth over of the Capitals innings, Mohammed Siraj bowled a short ball to opener Philip Salt. Salt checked with the square leg umpire for a potential wide ball but the appeal was turned down.

Salt subsequently smiled and said something to Siraj, which didn't go well with the RCB pacer. A few heated words were then exchanged between the two, and Capitals skipper David Warner had to interrupt.

Siraj was seen indicating to Warner to ask his batting partner to keep quiet. The two were later separated by the on-field umpires and Du Plessis.

Cricket fans were divided in their opinions on the Siraj-Salt tiff. Shikha Pandey, during the match, posted about the incident on her Twitter handle without mentioning any player's name.

She wrote:

"Swearing won’t help anyone win any games! #JustSaying".

Many fans weren't impressed with the comment of the senior women's team pacer, and heaped criticism on her. Some of them also wrote abusive comments to display their anger.

A couple of days after that game, Shikha Pandey took to her Twitter handle to explain her side. The 33-year-old wrote:

"I’ve always been in awe of Mohammed Siraj’s bowling. What he has achieved in his career thus far is incredible, inspiring & incomparable.

"So folks trying really hard to make it appear as if I implied something else please take your conversations elsewhere."

Shikha Pandey added:

"Also, if you think hurling abuse on my TL or some one else’s helps you get your point across pls continue to do so. I can speak for myself, it does NOT."

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Shikha Pandey's numbers in WPL 2023

Shikha Pandey played for Delhi Capitals in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023. With 10 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 6.59, Pandey was the leading wicket-taker for the Capitals.

Capitals finished as the runners-up in the tournament to Harmanpreet Kaur's Mumbai Indians. Shikha Pandey scored 27 runs in 17 balls in the final and was involved in an unbeaten 52-run stand with Radha Yadav for the 10th wicket, which pushed DC to a respectable 131/9 in the first innings.

Shikha Pandey also made her comeback to the Indian women's team in the T20 World Cup held in South Africa. She picked up three wickets in as many matches at an economy rate of 6.60.

However, Pandey was dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) central contract list for the 2022-23 season.