England cricketers are unlikely to participate in the UAE-leg of IPL 2021 in September-October and it could save Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler from being sanctioned by their respective IPL franchises for posting allegedly racist tweets in 2017.
A day after ECB suspended fast bowler Ollie Robinson for his racist and sexist tweets as a teenager, old tweets from England's white-ball skipper Morgan and wicketkeeper Buttler resurfaced which seem to be written in a way that mocks the English language used by Indian fans. Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was also part of one conversation.
While Morgan leads Kolkata Knight Riders in the cash-rich league, Buttler plays for Rajasthan Royals.
"KKR and RR will be in a fix as these are players earning from Indian Premier League and as late as 2017 were making fun of how Indians speak English," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"Now you can be dismissive of these posts but this also speaks about what their general perception about Indians is. It's a tricky terrain but both KKR and Royals have a way out," he said.
As per the source, who has worked as a BCCI official since the first edition of IPL, both the English cricketers tendering an "unconditional apology" should be fine and the board and franchises "shouldn't stretch it" beyond that.
"Firstly, if Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Badale are mindful of their respective franchises’ image, a statement of apology from both Morgan and Buttler would suffice.
"Now with ECB not allowing them for second phase of IPL due to their own commitments, the suspension would count for very little. You are suspending players who are not coming for the second phase. It will be mere posturing," the official said.
Many in BCCI feel that it would only be sensible not to stir controversy as "there could well be some YouTube videos of some players making sexist remarks or body shaming others which could now come out in public domain."
While Morgan and Buttler’s non-participation could save them from facing embarrassment, things aren't as simple for McCullum and the KKR coach might have to issue an apology. It will be interesting to be seen how the KKR management, including principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, responds to it.
(With PTI inputs)
