‘All my life I have been, I can say it was more like Madrasi’ – S Sreesanth reveals facing racism throughout his career

Sreesanth. (Photo Source: Youtube)

Former Indian right-arm pacer S Sreesanth has opened up about facing racism throughout his cricketing career merely due to being from the southern part of the country. Member of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup Indian team says he was constantly going through racist comments.

Sreesanth, who hails from Kerala, made his international debut for India in 2005 during an ODI match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur and played 90 matches across formats, taking 169 wickets. Despite representing India at the highest level, the fast bowler says the racial taunts began from a very young age in age-group cricket.

“All my life I have been. I can say it. See anything below Bombay was more like Madrasi. I have been hearing it from the time I was playing Under-13 to Under-14 to Under-16 to Under-19. Then we had the Kochi (Tuskers Kerala) team and it was like playing for the country again,” said Sreesanth on The Ranveer Show.

Please honour your commitments to us: Sreesanth to Kochi Tuskers Kerala owners

Sreesanth also disclosed that he is still yet to receive his salary from the now-defunct Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Sreesanth was a member of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala team during the 2011 season of the IPL. However, the franchise was terminated before the subsequent edition of the tournament.

“They have to pay a lot of money. They still haven’t. You should get Muralitharan sir (Muttiah Muralitharan), you should get Mahela (Mahela Jayawardene) and in your show, they will only tell you. McCullum was also there, and Jadeja,” Sreesanth added.

“I urge you all, BCCI must have paid you by now. Please honour your commitments to us, even if it means paying with an 18% interest rate annually. The team was meant to last three years, but it was terminated after just one year. I believe this issue deserves more attention,” Sreesanth added.