VIDEO | Sarfraz Ahmed calls Andile Phehlukwayo “Abey kaale”, Rameez Raja refuses to translate on air

Phehlukwayo had enjoyed one of the finest, if not the finest, days of his cricketing life as after picking up four wickets, he scored a brilliant unbeaten 69 to guide South Africa to a five-wicket win in the second ODI in Durban. He was lucky in a sense as well because Pakistan had also dropped his catch and his review also successfully overturned the decision. Everything came together to frustrate Pakistan who had secured a hard-fought victory against the hosts in the first game. 

In the 37th over of South Africa's run-chase, Phehlukwayo edged a Shaheen Afridi delivery to fine leg for a single and just after the duo completed the run, Sarfraz was caught clearly on the stump mics saying, "Abey kaale, teriammiaajkahaanbaitheenhain? Kya parwakeaaye hai aaj?", which can literally be translated to "Hey black guy, where's your mother sitting today? What have you got her to say for you today?"

By hearing that, on commentary, Mike Haysman asked Ramiz Raja, "What's he saying there, Rameez?"

Raja was completely embarrassed by then and to dodge that question, he replied, "Difficult really to translate that. It's a big long sentence."

The comments made by Ahmed may well come under ICC’s anti-racism code. Considering ICC’s recent efforts to remove racism from the sport, he may well face suspension up to four Tests or eight ODIs.