Darren Sammy accepts former Indian Premier League teammate's explanation for potentially racist nickname

Former West Indies captain says a Sunrisers colleague has been in touch to say the word was coming 'from a place of love and I believe him'

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates - February 21, 2019: Peshawar's Darren Sammy bats during the game between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League. Thursday the 21st of February 201Show more

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy says he has accepted a former teammate's explanation of a potentially racist nickname he was given at the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Earlier this week, the 36-year-old sought clarification from his former teammates over the name used for him when he was part of the Indian Premier League franchise from 2013-14.

Sammy said he did not know the meaning of a Hindi word that some unnamed Sunrisers team mates would call him and only became aware of its racial connotations after watching a TV show that discussed the issue.

The 36-year-old said that his teammates would laugh every time they used the term, a play on the word “kala”, meaning black in Hindi and Urdu, but is often used as a derogatory term and a racial slur in the subcontinent.

"I'm pleased to say that I've had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives," Sammy tweeted. "My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love and I believe him."

Separately in a video, Sammy advocated awareness to fight racism. He said: "It's a great opportunity to educate people about certain things that have been said or done, that even though you don't mean it in any way to be degrading to someone else, but the fact that it can be perceived to be that or it could mean that."

The Sunrisers Hyderabad and Indian cricket board (BCCI) officials Reuters contacted declined to comment.

Several athletes have spoken out about racism in sport and society after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis.

While none of India's frontline cricketers have commented on the issue, football captain Sunil Chhetri stressed the need to confront any racist behaviour.

"Racism comes from ignorance," Chhetri said in a statement issued by the country's football federation. "If I see someone being racist, I would get hold of them and explain to them why what they are doing is wrong," said the striker.