There have been no shortage of controversies coming out of the commentary box this year, and the latest one on the list is former Australian bowler Shane Warne. The legendary leg-spinner made a reference to Cheteshawar Pujara’s “Steve” nickname and is being accused of endorsing casual racism with the fans demanding an apology for the same.
Much like India‘s last visit to the land Down Under, Cheteshwar Pujara has been leading the resistance for the visitors. Having had to walk out into the middle in the first over of the innings itself with not a single run on the board, Pujara has been putting up an impressive display of test batting much to the chagrin of the four-pronged bowling attack.
While fulfilling his commentary duties for Fox Cricket, Warne referred to the nickname Pujara was given during his county stint with Yorkshire when the discussion regarding the difficulty behind pronouncing his name was brought up.
Warne definitely missed the fact that this was not a matter to be jokingly discussed as the “Steve” nickname given by Pujara’s Yorkshire teammates did not end well. Yorkshire captain Azeem Rafiq had filed an official complaint on December 5 against his team for discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race. The case has rocked the English county cricket and is currently undergoing investigation.
The Indian batsman had earlier stated that the nickname was given by his teammates in England since they were finding difficulty pronouncing his name.
“Well I would prefer Cheteshwar, but it’s difficult to pronounce so the guys have come up with Steve,” But personally, I would prefer Cheteshwar. Jack Brooks started off with this. He couldn’t pronounce my first name so he was asking me what nickname do I have. I said I don’t have any.
“So they said, ‘we will start calling you Steve’. Initially, they started calling me ‘Puj’, but they have started calling me Steve again. It’s a good nickname, but I prefer Cheteshwar.” Pujara is quoted as saying by cricket.com.au in 2018.
Referring to Pujara as ‘Steve’ is:
a) unprofessional
b) disrespectful
c) racistLearn to say his name
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) December 17, 2020
Hey @ShaneWarne, the story behind the "Steve" nickname for Pujara.
"They called every person of colour 'Steve'. Even [India batsman] Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name." This is as of Dec 2020.— Prashant Kondi (@PrasKon) December 17, 2020
Goes on to show what is the importance of reading at least about the sport that earns you bread and butter. @7Cricket commentators @ShaneWarne and others are laughing about Pujara's nickname 'Steve' and I am optimistic that they're naive about the racist context of that name. https://t.co/yyWbFrqpJI
— Mayank (@kmayank9) December 17, 2020
A little bit of context would help this Aus commentary panel realise that the Pujara "Steve" reference is no laughing matter #AUSvIND
— Kanishkaa Balachandran (@kanishkaab) December 17, 2020
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