Instagram post reveals Ishant Sharma used racist term for Darren Sammy

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy said that he had  been subjected to racism during the Indian Premier League, but did not reveal any names. Ishant Sharma's post on Instagram, six years  ago, proves that indeed he was referred to as 'kalu' (derogatory word for black) in the IPL.

"Me, bhuvi, kaluu and gun sunrisers," Sharma captioned an Instagram post dated May 14, 2014 in which Sammy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn can be seen posing together.

Another tweet by the swashbuckling all-rounder proves he took the slur in stride and was clueless about its meaning.

Sammy had uploaded a video on Instagram where the former West Indian skipper had angrily called out some of his teammates from the Sunrisers Hyderabad and said that they used the derogatory term for him.

The all-rounder said that at the time, he did not know the word was a racial slur and used in a derogatory way for black people.

“You know it was degrading and so instantly I remembered that when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014 I was being called the same word he described that was degrading to us black people,” recalled Sammy in the video, who had also captained the team during his stint in the IPL team.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are. I must admit at that time when I was being called that, I didn't know what it meant, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, and I saw no problems because I was ignorant about what it meant.

"But every time I and Thisara Perera was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment. Me being a team man, I thought teammates are happy, so it must be something funny," Sammy said.