Daren Sammy demands apology from SRH players over likely racist nickname

Daren Sammy demands apology from SRH players: The former West Indian captain has expressed disappointment regarding potentially racist nickname.

Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has expressed disappointment at his potentially racist nickname at Indian Premier League franchise SunRisers Hyderabad.

Sammy, who made his IPL debut for Hyderabad in 2013 and went on to play in two seasons for them, had earlier uploaded an Instagram story regarding being nicknamed Kalu at SRH and how he and Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera were called by the same name.

Daren Sammy demands apology from SRH players

Sammy, who thought of a different meaning for his nickname, once again took to his Instagram handle to post a video in which he demanded an apology from the players who used to call him by that name.

Disclosing his intention of messaging those individuals to have a conversation and eventually seeking an apology, Sammy mentioned that understanding the real meaning of the word has made his “very angry”.

“I was listening to Hasan Minhaj talking about how some of the people in his culture view or describe black people. Now that doesn’t apply to everybody, but I say this because of something I experienced.

“I said I was angry after listening to him describing a word that they use to describe black people, which he was saying is not in a good way and it was degrading. Instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014, I was being called the exact same word that he described,” Sammy said in an IGTV video.

Further speaking on the matter, Sammy spoke about how other players used to laugh when he was called by that man. Being a team man, Sammy didn’t pay much heed to the same considering it to be funny. It was only after listening to Minhaj that he got to know the real meaning of the word.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBL-fuglF6o/?igshid=415uoho1dpvf

Ishant Sharma’s Instagram post goes viral

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who was Sammy’s teammate in IPL 2013-14, is being slammed across social media platforms for his six-year old Instagram post. In the captain of the photo alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sammy and Dale Steyn, Sharma has mentioned Sammy as Kaluu.

https://www.instagram.com/p/n-9FXeGjXV/?utm_source=ig_embed

On another note, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who played for the SunRisers in IPL 2014, has denied being aware of any such incident during the season and expects Sammy to take responsibility for his “comments”.

“If something like that would have happened then it would have come to notice or a team discussion would have happened on the topic. I am not aware of any such incident and he (Sammy) has to take responsibility for his comments,” Pathan was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

On the contrary, Pathan highlighted how racism frequently happens in the Indian domestic circuit with players from South India.

“But I have seen some issues in domestic cricket where our brothers from South India have to face chants based on their appearance when they travel up north. I think the real issue is education and society needs to learn,” Pathan said.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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