Srinagar, June 7: Darren Sammy, the former West Indies cricketer, Saturday alleged that he and Sri Lankan cricketer Thisara Perera faced racist comments while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The all-rounder, who has been quite vocal about #BlackLivesMatter after a black man was killed in US, said he didn’t know what exactly the word ‘Kalu’ meant. However, after finding out, he expressed anguish.
“I just learnt what that ‘kalu’ meant when I played for Sunrisers in the IPL. They call me and Perera by that name. I thought it meant strong Stallion. My previous post tells me something different and I’m angry,” Sammy wrote on his Instagram handle.
The crickeger went on to say that he thought ‘Kalu’ meant a strong man and wasn’t a racist remark.
“Oh so that’s what that meant when they called me and @tp_perera kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. I just thought they were calling me strong black man I’m more piss (sic) now.”
Several sportspersons across the world have raised their voice against racism, recently and the hashtag ‘#BlackLivesMatter’ has been trending on social media for quite a while now.