Revealed: The India Star Who Called Darren Sammy 'Kalu'

Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has raised a number of eyebrows by recently revealing that he was racially abused while playing the Indian Premier League (IPL). The two-time T20 World Cup winner started his IPL career in 2013 with Sunrisers Hyderabad and was made the captain of the team in the following year.

In 2015, he was released by Hyderabad, and subsequently signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was then picked up by Kings XI Punjab for the 2017 tournament. His last appearance in the IPL came in 2015. Darren Sammy, nonetheless, claimed that he was called Kalu, a racist jibe while he was representing Sunrisers Hyderabad.

He claimed that not only him but Sri Lankan allrounder Thisara Perera was also victim of that racist term while they were playing for the Hyderabad-based outfit. At first, there was some confusion whether the slurs came from the dressing room or the crowd.

Well, on Tuesday, he cleared the air in a recent video posted on Instagram. He insisted that the slurs came from within the dressing room. And it looks like India fast-bowler Ishant Sharma was one of the players who called Darren Sammy kalu. Ishant Sharma could be seen calling the West Indian ‘kaluu’ in an old Instagram post. The way Ishant Sharma has used the term, it is very clear that he was not the only one who called Sammy by that name.

Here is the post:

Meanwhile, Sammy has asked his former teammates to apologise for using the racist term before he exposes them. He reiterated that he was ignorant back then and hoped the concerned players would start a conversation with him to clarify the air.

“I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are. I must admit at that time when I was being called that, I didn’t know what it meant, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, and I saw no problems because I was ignorant about what it meant.

“But every time I and Thisara Perera was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment. Me being a team man, I thought teammates are happy, so it must be something funny,” said Darren Sammy.

“Now, I realise that it wasn’t funny. I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you ‘when you repeatedly called me over and over again – I was even saying that’s my name – did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way?,” he added.

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