Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has told that he had to face color discrimination several times while playing for the national team. According to Sivaramakrishnan, one of the reasons for his exclusion from the team at a very young age was also the comments made by the crowd.
In an exclusive interview with The Quint, Sivaramakrishnan told that when he was first selected in the national team at the age of 16, he had to face color discrimination in the hotel.
Let us tell you that the Ollie Robinson episode has caught a lot of attention in England recently. Ollie Robinson made her debut last week, but her racist tweet from a decade ago caused an uproar. After this, he was dropped from the second Test and the ECB set up an inquiry against him.
Referring to the racism meted out to him, Sivaramakrishnan said, “I got a place in the India team at a very young age of 16. But before my first tour, I was not allowed to enter the team hotel. It was a Mumbai Five. It was a star hotel. They did this because one was my age and the other was my skin tone. Eventually I had to call the receptionist, who gave my room number and finally I was allowed to leave.”
Sivaramakrishnan further said, “Throughout my career, whether in India, Pakistan or Australia, I have been subjected to apartheid. I was humiliated. When you are doing well, these things don’t affect you that much, but when You are going through poor form, especially when you are young, it has a negative effect. When I played my last test match, I was only 21. This happened due to various reasons, including ordinary form, lack of confidence and the ill-effects of abusing the mob.”
Let us tell you that Sivaramakrishnan is now an important and traveling broadcaster around the world.
