Bengaluru: Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has lashed out at “false and fabricated stories” in the media and clarified on various issues involving her presence during India’s cricket matches at the ICC World Cup 2019 and other tours.

Anushka said till now she had maintained silence despite various “false” news stories appearing in the media over her being blamed for husband and India captain Virat Kohli’s performances in the past.

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She also clarified about the latest news report where former India cricketer Farokh Engineer had claimed that an Indian selector had served tea to her during a World Cup 2019 match in England.

Anushka took to the micro-blogging website Twitter to issue a statement, on Thursday (October 31).

“I have always been of the opinion that maintaining silence on false and fabricated news and stories against one is the best way to deal with your detractors. This is how I have handled my career for 11 years now. I always saw dignity and truth embedded in the shadow of my silence,” she started off.

Later she added, “They say, say a lie so many times repeatedly that it starts to look like the truth and I am afraid this is what has been happening with me. My silence has made the lies spitted against me seem true but that ends today.

“I have stayed quiet through all the times I was blamed for the performance of my then boyfriend, now husband Virat and continue to take the blame for the most baseless thing involving Indian cricket. I kept quiet then. My name has been used in fabricated stories claiming that I am part of a close-door team meetings and influenced selection processes and I have kept silent. My name has been wrongfully used to say how I have been given preferential treatment or how I have overstayed my authorised time with my husband on foreign tours which if anyone really cared about finding facts from the board, would know that I have always and always followed protocol but yet, I kept quiet.”

She continued, “My name was used for false stories to make it look like the board was being bothered for my tickets or security, etc when I bought my own tickets for matches and flights and still I kept quiet. I was asked to stand in a group photo by the High Commissioner's wife despite my hesitation to be in it, and a huge issue was created over this blaming me for intentionally wanting to be part of it and the said event, even though i was invited for it.”

Anushka called the news stories as “horrible”. “They have all been as regressive and horrible and malicious and vicious.”

“Today, I have decided to speak up because someone's silence cannot be taken as their weakness,” she added.

Here is Anushka Sharma’s full statement on Twitter