Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy has been in the middle of the racism row in the IPL. Sammy, earlier this week, expressed disappointment at being referred to a ‘derogatory’ word in 2014 by some of his then SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) teammates when he didn’t know the meaning of it.
Sammy has now revealed that after having an ‘interesting conversation’ with the player, he was reassured that the word came from ‘a place of love’.
“I’m pleased to say that I’ve had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love and I believe him (sic),” Daren Sammy said on social media.
In an interview ESPNcricinfo said that he wants to create a forum, create something to discuss cricket. The West Indies cricketer stated that he wants to educate people. He said, “Yes. After discussion, they must have action. Discussion without action is still just discussion. Action should be taken to eradicate such a thing and educate people.”
He had alleged that he and Thisara Perera were called ‘Kalu’, (black in Hindi), during his stint at SRHin IPL. Sammy was also asked about any player reaching him from the IPL team, he answered, “Yes, one player has reached out to me. And I’ve spoken to Tom Moody, the coach of that team. You have to look at the bigger picture. I always look for the positive that will come out of something. I think now with everything that is happening around the world it’s an opportunity to educate. And I’m not going to sit down here and say, ‘this guy is a racist.’ No, that’s not me. I am not in a position to do that. But what I could do is, use this platform and the conversations that me and these individuals may have, use it as an opportunity to shed light. I have heard so many other cricketers come out and talk about it. Yes, they have not experienced it, but they know, they are aware that it happens. And it’s a conversation, uncomfortable but there’s a need for it to happen.”
In the interview, Sammy was also questioned about being opportunistic about the issue. He said, “There is no special time to speak about the truth or the issues. I could care less what they think about me but it’s a conversation, it’s an issue that is within the game that has to be addressed. Whether you say I am an activist for black people, why not. Who has been speaking on our behalf?”
He added, “Like I mentioned, we dominated the world for 17 years and within that period look at the laws that have changed in cricket. Who has been our voice? Right now West Indies is in England, among all the coronavirus, helping. We are compassionate people. Where is the compassion shown towards us? I am just speaking about my experience and how I think the cricket world could be better. If that’s wrong, then I am okay with that.”
Sammy's video that triggered the conversation:
