Slowly, but surely, the alleged racist remarks by Arshdeep Singh, on India teammate Tilak Varma are grabbing a lot of attention. Now, former spinner L Sivaramakrishnan, who had levelled racism charges at the start IPL 2026, has expressed his outrage over the incident on X.
Ban Arshdeep Singh?
In a video going viral, PBKS pacer Arshdeep had asked MI batter Tilak, “Oye Andhere, sunscreen lagaaya?” In the same video, the bowler calls Naman Dhir as ‘real noor’. Without much context and insight, the conversation has not gone down well with many. L Sivaramkrishnana, who had spoken about similar kind of discrimination just a few days earlier, refused to take it as humour.
In fact, he called for penalty on the player in question, so that an example can be set. He wrote, “Nobody believed me. Everyone mocked and trolled me. Arshdeep should be banned this season and should be paid on a pro rata basis. The players today should be hit where it hurts the most. I am sure I would be trolled again.”
“If BCCI takes action, I will name people who racially abused me if BCCI will take action against them.” But this entire incident only brings to light, the issues BCCI is dealing with. What could mount trouble is, this has happened after the board had come up with a 7-page guideline for all franchises, regarding off-field behaviour and social media conduct.
This is not the first time that Arshdeep has landed in trouble. Earlier, in one of his vlogs, mistakenly he shot a video of Yuzvendra Chahal vaping on an airplane. There was supposed to be a ban on his vlogging, when with the team. Meanwhile, the ‘racism’ incident could have bigger implications on the player.
Under the IPL Code of Conduct, any action that is contrary to the spirit of the game, will be subject to review by the match referee. But it remains to be seen, if this conversation is treated as a private exchange between two individuals or not.
