Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 13, 2020)

Surprised that even in such times of crisis “many still have time to find fault in others”, actor Geeta Basra has come out in support of her husband Harbhajan Singh. Ever since the cricketer and his contemporary Yuvraj Singh courted controversy by tweeting in support of Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi’s call for help for those in need during the Coronavirus outbreak, the former has remained tight-lipped about it.

Ask her why, and Basra, 36, explains, “He says he knows what his country means to him and doesn’t want to explain an act done for humanity. He lives for India and will die for India.”

Soon after Harbhajan and Yuvraj’s tweets, #ShameonYuviBhajji was trending on social media. Yuvraj responded to the criticism with a tweet that was retweeted by Harbhajan.

Basra says, “This goodwill gesture was to help Afridi, with whom they have played cricket, and have years of friendship, and he’s trying to do his bit for his country. They tried spreading the word to their fans all over the world. Let’s not bring religion into this. Even the virus isn’t making any discrimination. They would’ve done the same if anyone from any of the other teams like West Indies or England would’ve sought help.”

The celebrity couple has also distributed ration to 5,000 families in Jalandhar, Punjab to help the needy in this time of distress.