#blacklivesmatter: Darren Sammy opens up about facing racism during IPL

Hyderabad: Amid civil unrest in the US against racism, former West Indies cricket team captain Darren Sammy has opened up about the racial slur he faced from his fellow teammates during IPL in India.

Sammy expressed anger and exasperation on his Instagram story after having learnt the true meaning of the word, "Kalu". He was allegedly used to be referred as "Kalu" by some teammates.

He had mistaken "Kalu" for "strong stallion". Every time he was named "Kalu" there was a burst of laughter amongst his teammates which made him assume that it was funny.

"I have played all over the world. I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played. I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some in his culture describe black people. This does not apply to all people. So after I found out the meaning of a certain word, I was angry. It was degrading. Instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to black people,” he said.

Sammy admitted that when he was called by this name, he thought it meant strong stallion. “I did not know what it meant. Every time I was called by this name, there was laughter. I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny", Sammy shared on Instagram.

Cricketer Ishant Sharma's old photo with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Darren Sammy, and Dale Steyn has also surfaced on social media. He had captioned the photograph," Me, bhuvi, kaluu and gun sunrisers".

Sammy had referred to himself as "Kalu" too on a birthday post to VVS Laxman owing to the nickname he was given.