Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar on Tuesday (June 9) contributed to the global debate around racism, he never faced it during his celebrated international career.
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During his interaction on Helo app, Akhtar said he was never subjected to racial abuse when he toured overseas with the Pakistan cricket team.
The Rawalpindi Express also pointed out that he can’t recall any Pakistani players being targeted in India or the vice-versa.
Akhtar, however, reminisced he was at the receiving end of crowd’s fury during the 1999 Kolkata Test against India when Sachin Tendulkar got run out under controversial circumstances and Pakistan went on to win the match by 46 runs.
"No, I never had to face it (on racism). I faced it once when Sachin got run out in Kolkata and fans thought it was my fault. At that time a little bit happened. But otherwise, I have never faced it," Shoaib said.
"I was scared that I might face racism in India or people might chant slogans against Pakistan or fans might chant slogans about the Kashmir issue.
"But that never happened. And neither has this ever happened to Indian players in Pakistan. I was a bit hesitant during the 2004-05 tour to India and was scared of facing a bit of backlash from the crowd but that never happened.
"From both sides, it was a good thing. There were no religious issues regarding Hindu-Muslim or Sikh-Muslim tensions from either side.
"There was no hooting, nobody chanted any slogans relating to someone's colour, race or religion. I didn't hear anything about this either in India or Pakistan or in Australia," he elaborated.
Akhtar’s comments came after former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy made shocking revelations about racism in cricket.
Last week, Sammy alleged that he and Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera faced racist jibe while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In his Instagram story, Sammy, who represented SRH in 2013 and 2014, said he and Perera were called "kalu" during their stints with the franchise.
The two-time T20 World Cup-winning skipper has also promised to confront his former SRH teammates over the racist barb.
"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," he said in a video posted on his Instagram account on Tuesday.
Sammy has opened up about the racism in cricket at a time when the world is mourning the killing of George Floyd – a 46-year-old African-American, who died on May 25 in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for several minutes.
