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At a time when Yorkshire is dealing with prices of institutional racism, it has emerged that Cheteshwar Pujara was known as ‘Steve’ — a generic identify given to cricketers of color — throughout his stint with the county in 2018. The claims, put forth by a former worker, seem quickly after ex-Yorkshire cricketer and former England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq’s allegations that relentless racist taunts on the membership had virtually pushed him to try suicide.
Cricketers of Asian origin known as ‘taxi drivers’ and ‘restaurant workers’
Taj Butt, who was employed with the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation as a neighborhood growth officer, has mentioned it was a follow within the membership to seek advice from gamers of Asian origin as ‘taxi drivers’ and ‘restaurant workers’. “There were constant references made to taxi drivers and restaurant workers when referring to the Asian community. They called every person of colour ‘Steve’. Even Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name,” Butt informed ESPNCricinfo.
‘Forced to drink wine by team-mates’
Rafiq, a 29-year-old off-spinner of Pakistani heritage, is on the coronary heart of the raging racism firestorm. Rafiq, in interviews, has alleged that the membership that he represented in two stints from 2004 to 2006 and 2008 to 2016, had inspired a system of discriminatory remedy in the direction of cricketers of Asian origin. It usually took the shape of getting pinned down by team-mates and “forced to drink wine” – regardless of being a Muslim – to the fixed ridicule and social boycotts, getting known as ‘elephant washers’ and being requested to “go back to where you came from”. All this had left Rafiq mentally scarred and “feeling suicidal.” In a 2018 press launch, he mentioned the explanation for the bias was “because my face did not fit, because of my race, it had nothing to do with my ability.”
Confronting and heart-breaking, says Gillespie
Former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie, who was the Yorkshire coach when Rafiq was waging his private battle against alleged institutional racism, mentioned watching him narrate the ordeal was heart-breaking.
“I saw this interview that he had given to the media, and some of those experiences that he narrated had happened when I was at the club, and it was quite confronting and heart-breaking for me. As a coach, when I saw him struggling as a player, I didn’t realise back then that it was because of racism. There were some issues with his cricket, but listening to that interview (to Sky) really opened my eyes. There was a lot happening to him off the field and his game was suffering. It was a hard watch,” Gillespie opened as much as Mel Jones in “Cricket Connecting Country”.
BLM motion triggered outburst
Rafiq mentioned that he had complained to the membership’s directors on quite a few cases, however it fell on deaf ears. However, the widespread international outrage over George Floyd’s killing and the next Black Lives Matter motion spurred him to go public.
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan presents help
Former Pakistan pacer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan got here out in Rafiq’s help, stating that he was additionally subjected to comparable taunts throughout his stint with the membership. Naved-ul-Hasan, who performed as an abroad skilled for Yorkshire for 2 seasons (2008 and 2009), mentioned that Rafiq had confided to him about his considerations again then and added: “Many Asian players were similarly affected by the club’s bad attitude.”
Yorkshire launches probe
In September this 12 months, Yorkshire arrange a sub-committee to launch a proper probe into Rafiq’s allegations and a overview of the membership’s tradition by legislation agency Squire Patton Boggs. In a press release, membership president Roger Hutton mentioned: “Any allegation of this nature is hugely concerning to everyone from the board to the playing staff here. We take these reports very seriously.” Taj Butt’s feedback supporting Rafiq had been half of the continued probe.
Rafiq hopeful of significant change
The former off-spinner is hopeful that the investigation will convey a couple of significant change within the membership. “I want to see kids starting off their journey in cricket in a culture of acceptance and respect, where they are judged on their talent and not their culture and identity. I hope this investigation will result in a meaningful change at the club and in sport,” he mentioned.
Usman Khawaja’s ‘lazy’ stereotype jibe
Institutional racism shouldn’t be confined to Yorkshire and England alone. Usman Khawaja, the Australian batsman of Pakistan origin, just lately opened a can of worms when he urged that the fixed criticism he copped about being ‘lazy’ had racial undertones. “I always had that ‘lazy’ undertone when I was growing up and I think part of that was due to my relaxed nature, but part of it was also because I was Pakistani, and people from the subcontinent were seen as lazy, not doing the hard yards,” he informed cricket.com.au.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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