Only hope? Dependable Abhinav Bindra. Aim for gold, champion!



— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) August 8, 2016

@DeShobhaa that's a tad unfair. You should be proud of your athletes perusing human excellence against the whole world.



— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 9, 2016

Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao. Selfies lo. Khaali haat wapas aao. What a waste of money and opportunity.



— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) August 8, 2016

Ms. De, kindly run on the hockey pitch for 60 mins & hold a rifle like Abhinav and Gagan. Bit tougher than u think https://t.co/XwZFKqZJjn



— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 8, 2016

@DeShobhaa maybe things will change when the attitude of people like urself change!!!!???? #Proudindian #proudsportsperson



— Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) August 8, 2016

@DeShobhaa a little harsh to belittle the hard work put in by our athletes ...don't you think ?



— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) August 8, 2016

Unsporting & crass for socialites to frivolously dis Indian athletes who have succeeded against all odds to get as far as Rio



— Milind Deora (@milinddeora) August 8, 2016

Why it matters what Shobhaa De says?



— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) August 9, 2016

NEW DELHI: After being trolled yesterday by Twitteratti for her unsportsmanlike comments on India's Olympics squad, Shobhaa De was today slammed by several Indian sportspersons as well as by a former Congress MP from south Mumbai for saying the country's Rio squad was "a waste of money and opportunity."De, a self-styled "social commentator and opinion-shaper" was somewhat more charitable toward ace marksman Abhinav Bindra, but that was yesterday, before he narrowly missed a medal in his event.Still, Bindra called De out on her Twitter comments.Yesterday, De tweeted:"Isko kya pata? Ye author hogi apni jagah. Isko ab thook kay chaatna padega," said Sunita Godara, a former national marathon champion, ANI reported. Godara's quote translates to" What does she (De) know? She might be an author and that's all very well. Now, she will have to eat crow."Even if our players aren't winning it's really tough to reach that level," Godara added.Former Indian hockey captain Viren Rasquinha wasn't amused either.Badminton star Jwala Gutta questioned De's attitude.Professional tennis player Somdev Devvarman slammed De for "belittling" hardworking athletes.Former Congress Parliamentarian Milind Deora called De "crass".Author Taslima Nasreen, no stranger to controversy herself, perhaps said it best of all.