Chennai Super Kings player Suresh Raina has become a target of considerable attack from netizens for asserting his identity as a Brahmin, an upper-caste Hindu.
Raina, who announced his retirement from international cricket last year, was taking part in commentary during a match between Lyca Kovai Kings and Salem Spartans when he made the controversial statement.
Speaking during the match, Raina said, “I think, I am also Brahmin. I have been playing since 2004 in Chennai, I love the culture… I love my teammates. I have played with Anirudha Srikanth, Badri (Subramaniam Badrinath), Bala Bhai (L Balaji)… I think you need to learn something good from there. We have a good administration, we have the license to explore ourselves. I love the culture there, and I’m lucky to be part of CSK. Hopefully, we will play more matches there.”
According to Indian Express, Raina’s controversial statement came after a commentator asked Raina how he was able to embrace the south Indian culture, given that he was often seen wearing a veshti, dancing and whistling.
As expected, Twitter exploded with criticism for the cricketer, who hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Indian cricketer Suresh Raina casually takes pride in his Brahmin caste. Yuvraj & Ashwin used casteist slurs, Jadeja & Dhawan have shown caste pride. While all athletes around the world are uniting for Black Lives Matter, UC cricketers are still casteisthttps://t.co/7Aj5ooJU0j
— Sankul Sonawane (@Sankul333) July 20, 2021
What the heck @ImRaina sir.. you shouldn’t use that word ….. https://t.co/v8AD1Cp0fT pic.twitter.com/TltPoMbYec
— udayyyyyy ????????????????????????????????????????️ (@uday0035) July 19, 2021
Brazen. Ugh. https://t.co/WwTjLgreCw
— Shri (@shrishrishrii) July 19, 2021
@ImRaina you should be ashamed yourself.
It seems that you have never experienced real Chennai culture though you have been playing many years for Chennai team. https://t.co/ZICLRr0ZLh
— Suresh (@suresh010690) July 19, 2021
Last year, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja had to face public ire for flaunting his identity as a ‘Rajput boy.’ Sharing a photo of himself, Jadeja had tweeted, “My signature, My style, My identity.#beyourself #rajputboy.”
