An old Instagram photo of Daren Sammy ‘s ex Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate confirms West Indian’s claims
Daren Sammy former West Indies captain accused IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad players of racially abusing him during his time with the franchise in 2013 and 2014. Netizens took it upon themselves to find out whether it was true or not, and they came up with the photo down below.
The caption by Ishant Sharma which read, “Me, bhuvi, kaluu and gun sunrisers” all but confirmed the claims made by Sammy.
Sammy had earlier alleged that he and Thisara Perera were called ‘Kalu’, which in Hindi means black, during his playing days with the SRH team.
However, a few of Sammy’s teammates at the time have denied the claims since. The likes of Parthiv Patel, Y Venugopal Rao and Irfan Pathan said that they have no memory of such incidents taking place.
ALSO READ: Daren Sammy ‘s former Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates deny allegations of racism in the IPL
Sammy has gone on to upload a video on Instagram to address the issue. This was what he had to say.
“Before I call out names, reach out and clarify the air,” Sammy addressed this to his then teammates.
He continued, “Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant, I need some answers. So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there’s another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love. I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people. This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013/14, I was being called the exact same word which is degrading to us black people. I instantly got very angry about it knowing now what that word meant.”
“I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are. I must admit at that time when I was being called that, I didn’t know what it meant, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, and I saw no problems because I was ignorant about what it meant. But every time I and Thisara Perera were called with that word, there was laughter at that moment. Me being a team man, I thought teammates are happy, so it must be something funny.”
“Now, I realise that it wasn’t funny. I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you ‘when you repeatedly called me over and over again – I was even saying that’s my name – did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way?”
“I have had great memories in all dressing rooms I’ve played in, I have always been one to build a team, not bring it down. So all those who used to call me with that word, you guys know yourself; reach out to me, let’s have a conversation. If it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed, and I’ll still be angry and deserve an apology from you guys as I saw all of you guys as my brothers. So talk to me, reach out to me and clear the air. To all the boards, this is why it’s important to take a stand,” he concluded.
Here’s the video: