Daren Sammy, the former West Indies captain, has cleared the air with India pacer Ishant Sharma, one of the players the all-rounder alleged had called Sammy a term with racist connotations during their time playing together in the IPL.
In June, Sammy took to social media in anger, after finding out the real meaning of the term – he was initially under the impression the term meant ‘strong stallion’ – and asked his Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mates to reach out to him and “clear the air”.
Social media posts from the time suggested Sammy was indeed called that term, with one of those posts being from Ishant. However, Sammy, who suggested he only recently come to know its real meaning, said he “didn’t hold grudges” and still considered Ishant “a brother”.
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“I don’t hold grudges,” Sammy told Press Trust of India. “I have spoken to Ishant Sharma. I consider him a brother like I did back in 2014 and ’15 when playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad.”
Sammy comments in June came at a time when the protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white policeman in Minneapolis sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. Sammy also urged the cricket fraternity to do more against racial injustices.
He is just one of several cricketers who have taken a strong stance on the BLM movement, Sammy said he’d not hesitate to call out again anyone who uses that term to refer to him.
“But again if I find out that a possible racial slur is being used to describe me, no matter what time I find out, I will ask questions about it and that’s what I did,” Sammy said.
“I have spoken and voiced my opinion and I am moving on. All these issues started a conversation in the cricket fraternity. I have no regrets talking about that.
“George Floyd was the straw that broke the camel’s back. People had to raise their voice against the systemic injustice, police brutality against people of colour.”
