Darren Sammy had asked his SRH teammates to speak to him on his allegations. (File Photo/BCCI)
Darren Sammy said he has been assured by one of his teammates at Sunrisers Hyderabad that the word ‘kalu’ had been used for him from a place of love and not with an intention to ‘degrade’ him.
“Had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love and I believe him,” Sammy tweeted on Thursday.
I’m please 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. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love 💕 and I believe him. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) June 11, 2020
Sammy had said earlier this week that he has just learnt the racial connotations of the word ‘kalu’, which had been used for him during his time with the Hyderabad IPL side.
In an Instagram video message on Monday, he called out his one-time teammates to clarify if they were “degrading” him and if so, to apologise.
In his video, Sammy said that his teammates used to laugh every time he was called ‘kalu’. “I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are.”
“Every time I was called it – me and Thisara Perera — there was always laughter. Me being a team man, I thought, hey, teammates are happy, it must be something funny. You can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn’t funny at all, it was degrading.”
Directly addressing his teammates in his post, Sammy said: “I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to call me with that word, think about it, let’s have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed.” He also urged his erstwhile teammates to talk to him and “clear the air”.
In old social media posts of Sunrisers players, Sammy does get referred to as “kalu”. On May 14, 2014, India pacer Ishant Sharma posted a picture on Instagram with Sammy and other team members with the caption: “Me, bhuvi, kaluu and gun (Steyn) sunrisers”.
Then, on November 1 that year, Sammy wished Sunrisers’ mentor VVS Laxman on Twitter: “Happy birthday @VVSLaxman281 May God continue to bless you. #bestdresser oh remember dark kalu”.