Former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy has posted a video on his Instagram handle, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Sammy lost his cool last week when he learned the meaning of the word ‘Kalu’, which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) tenure with the SunRisers Hyderabad franchise.
The former T20 World Cup winning captain said that he along with Sri Lanka players Thisara Perera was at times called that word when he played for SRH. However, Darren didn’t specify as to who directed these remarks at him, but now in the released video, he has said that he will message all those who called him that word.
In the video posted on his Instagram, Sammy said, “I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all 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.”
He further added, “This does not apply to all people, so after I found out the 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, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people.”
Sammy also said that at that time when he was being called with the word, he did not know the meaning of it. He also did mention that his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.
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Sammy said, “I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny.”
The former West Indies player has also been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States. The protests started after the death of the African-American man George Floyd by Police officer.
Sammy has also appealed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other boards to support the fight against racism.