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Commentator Ashok Malhotra apologised for referring to Assam cricketers as “second-class citizens” during their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) encounter against Bengal at Mohali.

With yet another fifty – his seventh in a row, a world record – Assam captain Riyan Parag guided his team to an easy win against Bengal in the pre-quarter-final at Mohali.

After restricting Bengal to 138-8 (Riyan claimed 2-23), Assam chased the target down with eight wickets and 13 balls in hand.

During the 16th over of Assam’s chase, Ashok Malhotra said on air: “Bengal played a number of matches against Assam. I would always think of them as second-class citizens.” before going on to praise the body language of the current Assam team.

Assam had never beaten Bengal in any format until 1996 (after Malhotra played his last match for Bengal), but the equation was not as skewed in the 21st century. In fact, in Twenty20 cricket, the result reads 8-5 in Bengal’s favour.

That, however, was not the lesser of the two problems with Malhotra’s comment. Off the field, the two states have not shared a very peaceful relationship over the years. There is little doubt that the words he chose were insensitive, politically incorrect.

Malhotra subsequently apologised for his choice of words on X (formerly Twitter): “I apologise profusely if I have hurt Assam people’s sentiments with my comments during the Assam v Bengal game last evening. I am sorry. It was totally unintentional & was trying to speak about their progress. I regret it and give an unconditional apology.”

Malhotra played seven Test matches and 20 ODIs for India in the early 1980s.

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Match CoverageSeries EditorialSyed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023