The World Test Championship final played between India and New Zealand has come under the scanner for racist behavior by the people in the crowd in Southampton. New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor was at the receiving end of the racist slurs hurled by a few individuals.
The incident was brought to the notice after Dominic da Souza, a fan, who heard the racial abuses on-air tweeted to the International Cricket Council about the incident.
@ClaireFurlong14 @ICCMediaComms hey folks, is there anyone at the ground taking note of crowd behaviour? There is a patron yelling abuse at the NZ team. There's been some pretty inappropriate stuff throughout the day, including reports of racist abuse directed at LRPL Taylor.
— Dominic da Souza Correa (@teddypaton) June 22, 2021
He added, “I wish I were at the ground, but it’s really audible through the live coverage. It’s been mentioned by quite a few viewers here in NZ. Because it’s only a small crowd, it’s transmitting really clearly.”
The officials responded promptly to the issue and informed the security team at The Hampshire Bowl. Two individuals were tracked down by the security personnel and were removed from the stadium within an hour because of their racist behavior towards Ross Taylor.
“We received reports of abuse directed at the New Zealand players. Our security team were able to identify the culprits and they were ejected from the ground. We will not tolerate any sort of abusive behavior in cricket,” an ICC spokesperson said in a statement to TOI.
After the day’s play ended, Kiwi pacer Tim Southee said he isn’t aware of any such incident happening during the World Test Championship final at The Hampshire Bowl.
This is the first time I heard of it. There’s so much going on in the middle. We want to play cricket in good spirit.
The World Test Championship final, even though marred by rain has witnessed some enthralling cricketing action heading into the reserved day of play at The Hampshire Bowl, Southampton. New Zealand have managed to pick up two wickets in the last session of Day 5. India are at 64/2, with Cheteshwar Pujara (12*) and Virat Kohli (8*) at the crease overnight.
