What’s the story?
Union sports minister of India, Vijay Goel got entwined in yet another controversy after he blindfolded himself at the inauguration of the 2nd T20 World Cup Championship for the Blind.
The tweet released by The Press Information Bureau (PIB) showed Vijay batting with his eyes blindfolded.
However, his gesture did not go down well with people as the Indian Twitterati left no stone unturned to troll the sports minister.
In case you did not know
Blind cricket was first invented in Melbourne in 1922 by two visually impaired factory workers who improvised the game using just a tin can containing rocks. In 1996 the World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) started the Blind World Cups. Till now four World Blind Championships have been held,
In 2012, the first Blind World Cup T20 was conducted. India hosted the event at the tournament was played at the Aditya Academy Ground in Bangalore.
The heart of the matter
As a part of the event, Vijay Goel blindfolded himself to encourage visually impaired players but soon after the release of his picture, Twitter users started mocking him.
The minister was sarcastically called a ‘modern-day Gandhari’, while some mentioned his stunt as ‘insensitive and disgusting.’
However, this is not the first time Goel has got involved in such controversies. Building up a reputation for himself when it comes to making gaffes, Goel was involved in a Twitter spat with Dangal actor Zaira Wasim just last week.
Last year, during the 2016 Rio Olympics, he was immensely criticised after he clicked a selfie with boxer Manoj Kumar even before the boxer had completed the mandatory dope test. The Games organisers even threatened to cancel his accreditation for the ‘rude’ behaviour.
Reactions
The following are some of the replies the tweet released by PIB received.
Sportskeeda’s take
Vijay Goel has often been targeted for his faux pas and sometimes, for his incomprehensible actions at major events. While he may just have been following the words of the organisers and nothing more, the 63-year-old would sports minister would surely not have expected to get trolled in return.
