Laxman Sivaramakrishnan opens up about being 'colour discriminated' all his life

Kanpur: Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has alleged that he has been “colour discriminated” all his life, including in his own country.

Sivaramakrishnan, who has played 9 Tests and 16 ODIs for India, opened up about his experience with discrimination in the wake of the racism scandal that has rocked English cricket.

“I have been criticised and colour discriminated all my life, so it doesn’t bother me anymore. This unfortunately happens in our own country,” Sivaramakrishnan wrote on his Twitter handle.

I have been criticised and colour discriminated all my life, so it doesn’t bother me anymore. This unfortunately happens in our own country

— Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (@LaxmanSivarama1) November 26, 2021

The former leg-spinner, who was known for his prodigious turn and flight, was reacting to a Twitter post that hinted at online trolling faced by commentators.

Sivaramakrishnan is not the only India player to have spoken about being discriminated against. Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund had also raised this issue on social media in 2017.

In a statement posted on his Twitter page, Mukund, who featured in 7 Test matches for India, had said: “I have been travelling a lot within and outside our country since I was 15. Ever since I was young, people’s obsession with my skin colour has always been a mystery to me.”

He added in the statement, “Anyone who follows cricket would understand the obvious. I have played and trained day in and day out in the sun and not even once have I regretted the fact that I have tanned or lost a couple of shades.

“It is simply because I love what I do and I have been able to achieve certain things only because I have spent hours outdoors. I come from Chennai probably one of the hottest places in the country and I have gladly spent most of my adult life in the cricket ground.”

Last year, former India and Karnataka pacer Dodda Ganesh, too, had opened up about his experience of racial discrimination.

English cricket recently found itself at the centre of a storm as former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq testified about the racial discrimination that he faced at a parliamentary hearing.