Have seen racial jibes in domestic cricket, admits Irfan Pathan

Former West Indian skipper, Darren Sammy pointed out how racism and racial jibes is a prevalent thing even in India, on the biggest T20 stage - Indian Premier League. The all-rounder, who was first picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2013 season has made himself a big name following his display as the skipper for the West Indian side, which won the 2016 T20 World Cup in the subcontinent.

He later led the side in the IPL but was at the receiving end of the racial slur from the fans, which he revealed in an Instagram post yesterday. In response to his statement, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan admitted that he has seen racial jibes on the Indian domestic circuit. 

“I was there with him (Sammy) in 2014. I feel had this really happened, the matter would definitely have been discussed. So I’m not aware of such things as nothing was discussed in a larger way. But at the same time, we need to educate our people because I’ve seen them (racial jibes) in domestic cricket,” he said, reported CricFit. 

Pathan, who last was seen on the domestic scene, mentoring Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy, added that these things are repetitive in the country. He recalled incidents, where the cricketers from down south are subject to racial remarks from their northern and western Indian audience. However, the all-rounder pointed out that people are trying to gain popularity by racially profiling the cricketers in an attempt to be funny. 

“Some of our cricketers from the south, especially, have faced that in the northern and western parts of the country, though I don’t want to name anyone. What happens is among the crowd, someone tries to act like a jester. It’s not because people are racist, but it’s like someone trying to be popular by saying something seemingly funny that amounts to crossing the line on certain occasions,” Pathan said.