Virender Sehwag, Slammed Over Tweet, Says 'It Wasn't Intended For Gurmehar'

Cricket icon Virender Sehwag found himself in the middle of a huge controversy after he tweeted in what was taken to be in reference to Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur's Facebook posts. Sehwag, who has over eight million followers on Twitter, finally broke his silence on the issue that has sharply divided public opinion. The 38-year-old said that his tweet wasn't intended for Gurmehar and people had misinterpreted his words.

"My tweet wasn't intended for Gurmehar. It was plain fun but people construed the other way," he told India Today.

Gurmehar has been trolled over her online campaign against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student body after last week's violence at Ramjas College in Delhi.

On Sunday, Sehwag had posted his photo, holding a placard which read "I did not score two triple centuries, my bat did". The tweet triggered a deluge of reactions.

Bat me hai Dum !#BharatJaisiJagahNahi pic.twitter.com/BNaO1LBHLH

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 26, 2017

The former India opener's tweet appeared to be in response to the student's earlier Facebook post that gained major traction on social media networks. In a video post, she had appealed for peace between India and Pakistan with messages on placards, one of which said, "Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him'.

The 20-year-old has been given police protection after she alleged rape threats over her posts against the ABVP.

On Tuesday, Gurmehar pulled out of a march by teachers at the Delhi University students against campus violence.

In a series of tweets, Gurmehar said, "that's all I can take", but appealed to others to join the "Save DU" march in huge numbers. "To anyone questioning my courage and bravery. I've shown more than enough," she wrote.