I Faced A Bit Of Discrimination When I Started As A Commentator In England - Farokh Engineer

Former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer revealed that he’d been subjected to discriminative and derogatory remarks when he was in England, first as a player and then a commentator.

Farokh Engineer, who played for a long time in Lancashire in the ’70s and lived in England for the rest of his life, opened up about discrimination and racism in England after the recent event of Azeem Rafiq’s emotional testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee on Tuesday regarding racism he faced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has taken the English board by storm.

Farokh Engineer said that he had heard a couple of persons passing belittling comments on him but then shut them down upon confrontation.

“I faced a bit of discrimination when I started out as a commentator in England. There were a couple of individuals who made the odd comment which didn’t sound right.

“There were occasions when I overheard one or two comments, snide remarks from them about me which were distasteful,” Farokh Engineer told TOI from Manchester on Wednesday.

“It was apparent that they didn’t want me because of my colour, my Indian heritage. They didn’t expect me to overhear it. When I confronted them about it, they shut up straight away,” he stated.

Thank God I played for Lancashire and not Yorkshire: Farokh Engineer

After learning about the racial culture at Yorkshire from Azeem Rafiq’s statements, the 83-year-old said he felt fortunate that he played for Lancashire and not Yorkshire. Farokh Engineer added that he didn’t face racism at Lancashire.

“Thank God I played for the ‘Red Rose’ (Lancashire), AND NOT the ‘White Rose’ (Yorkshire). Over the years, there have been all sorts of rumours going on about Yorkshire. I’ve heard many things, but not experienced anything personally,” the Mumbai-born recalled.

His former Lancashire captain, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, and Ashes-winning England skipper Michael Vaughan, too, have come under fire from Azeem Rafiq.

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