MS Dhoni was not the only one facing a backlash at Lord’s, Indian leggie Yuzvendra Chahal too had to digest taunts of a different kind for his on-field antics during the India-England 2nd ODI.
Yuzvendra Chahal became the subject to a racial remark and it did not come from a spectator or a section of the crowd unhappy with India’s performance. It came from former England off-spinner Graeme Swann.
In the dying stages of the 2nd ODI, seeing Chahal struggle to get back to the crease, Swann in the commentary box, compared the Indian leg-spinner with a dog chasing a frisbee.
The incident occurred in the 49th over of the Indian innings, when India all but out of the contest, were just trying to bat out the 50 overs with Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav at the crease. Chahal had induced a fair share of laughter already by hitting his first boundary in 25 ODIs and getting his career tally of runs to double figures when his indecision left him stranded in the middle of the pitch, providing two run out opportunities to England.
Swann present at the commentary box along with Alan Wilkins, said, “Chahal like a true tail-ender had no idea what’s going on with the bat in his hand, spinning around like a dog chasing a frisbee.”
Interestingly, this was not the first time a reputed former England cricketer had made a racial remark on an India cricketer during commentary. In India’s tour to England in 2011, former England captain Nasser Hussain’s donkey remark about Indian fielding had created a lot of furore with the then BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla terming the comments as “totally uncalled for”.
"I would say the difference between the two sides is the fielding. England are all-round a good fielding side. I do believe that India have few...3 or 4 very good fielders and one or two donkeys in the field still," Hussain had said seeing Parthiv Patel drop a catch in the first T20I.
About a week later, Hussain went on to defend himself by saying it was a common slang he had been using since his captaincy days.