Shane Warner who is currently doing commentary during the first test between Australia and India has landed himself in trouble. The former cricketer on-air referred to Cheteshwar Pujara as ‘Steve’ after which he was heavily scrutinised on Twitter and users termed him a ‘Racist’. When Pujara was playing county cricket for Yorkshire, Pujara’s teammates gave him the nickname ‘Steve’.
Recently it was announced that the name ‘Steve’ was a racist term coined by the players at Yorkshire to call the players of colour. Surprisingly it seems Warne wasn’t aware of the nickname being a racist expression and shared a good laugh with fellow Fox cricket commentators.
Twitter Calls Shane Warne A ‘Racist’
When Pujara was batting, Warne pointed out that his full name is not easy to pronounce hence his Yorkshire teammates named him ‘Steve’. The former Aussie cricketer probably seemed to have missed that fact the issue was in the news, and surely not as a joke.
Once Warne had a good laugh and took it as a mockery he faced a lot of heat on popular social media platform Twitter. The bluebird was buzzing and cricket enthusiasts even wanted Warne to apologize after he referred to Pujara with the discriminatory term ‘Steve’.
This is not the first time that Aussie commentators have made fun about Pujara’s full name. When India last played a Test series Australia back in 2018-19 commentator Kerry O’Keeffe was also slammed for his remarks surrounding the voicing of the batsman’s name.
Earlier, former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq had registered a case against county side Yorkshire, claiming he was discriminated against based on race at the club. Following this Later, two former Yorkshire employees, Taj Butt and Tony Bowry had provided evidence against the club which has systematised racism. Butt had said that the Yorkshire players called Pujara Steve.
“(There were) continuous references to taxi drivers and restaurant workers when referring to (the) Asian community”, Butt was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“They called every person of colour ‘Steve’. Even (India batsman) Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name”, he added.
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Meanwhile. Here’s how Twitter user reacted upon Shane Warne’s comments.
https://twitter.com/krizztorpha/status/1339437063679033344?s=20
Hey @ShaneWarne, the story behind the "Steve" nickname for Pujara.
"They called every person of colour 'Steve'. Even [India batsman] Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name." This is as of Dec 2020.— Prashant Kondi (@PrasKon) December 17, 2020
Goes on to show what is the importance of reading at least about the sport that earns you bread and butter. @7Cricket commentators @ShaneWarne and others are laughing about Pujara's nickname 'Steve' and I am optimistic that they're naive about the racist context of that name. https://t.co/yyWbFrqpJI
— Mayank (@kmayank9) December 17, 2020
Referring to Pujara as ‘Steve’ is:
a) unprofessional
b) disrespectful
c) racistLearn to say his name
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) December 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/thedockers2011/status/1339437604467400704?s=20
@FoxCricket commentators calling Pujara as Steve again on air and giggling shows once more how racist these people are. Morons of the highest order! @ShaneWarne @gilly381 @bcci @ICC#AUSvIND #Cricket #Adelaidetest #AUSvsIND #INDvsAUS #INDvAUS #racism #Australia #India
— MoodKaDude (@rajas_alshi) December 17, 2020
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