Published 19:49 IST, June 10th 2020
Aakash Chopra says he was racially abused while playing league cricket in England
Aakash Chopra in a YouTube video has claimed that he was called 'Paki' by two South African players from one of the opposition teams.
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Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has alleged that he was racially targetted during a league cricket match in England. According to Aakash, he experienced racial abuse in England in 2007 when he was playing for Marylebone Cricket Club. Aakash in a YouTube video has claimed that he was called 'Paki' by two South African players from one of the opposition teams. Paki in English speaking countries is a racial slur used for people belonging to the Indian sub-continent.
"You're called Paki, and nobody likes it. The moment you call anybody Paki in England, you know the intention behind it. That's what happened to me at that time. My team stood by me but the truth is the person in front of me was doing it," Aakash said in the video. Aakash further added that white-skinned people are subjected to the same racial abuse when they visit our country. "Every cricketer once in his lifetime has been subjected to racism," Aakash said.
Darren Sammy abused in IPL
Former West Indies cricket team captain Darren Sammy also alleged that he was racially targetted by his teammates during his short stint at the Indian Premier League in 2013 and 2015. Sammy said that Indian players from his Sunrisers Hyderabad team used to jokingly refer to him as 'kalu' (Black), as he didn't know the true meaning of the word back then. He said that when he recently watched Indian-American comedian Hassan Minhaj's show on 'Black Lives Matter' he understood what actually 'kalu' meant. Minhaj in his show explained how people jokingly refer black people as 'kalu' in Indian culture. One of the players guilty of calling Sammy 'kalu' was Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who even uploaded a picture with the West Indies cricketer captioning it with the racial slur.
19:48 IST, June 10th 2020