Jasprit Bumrah racially abused when former England international cricketer Isa Guha called the India pacer a ‘primate’ on air on the second day of the third Test against Australia on Sunday at the Gabba in Brisbane. The incident, which went viral on social media, took place on the first half an hour of the day’s play after the Indian vice-captain scalped Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney in quick succession.
Bumrah has been the lone consistent bowler for India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) and it was no surprise for former Australia pacer Brett Lee to rave about him after the 30-year-old provided the visitors with early breakthroughs on Day 2. “Bumrah, today: five overs, 2/4. So, that’s the tone, and that’s what you want from the ex-skipper,” said Lee on air.
Guha, who was Lee’s co-commentator, said in response, “Well, he’s the MVP, isn’t he? Most valuable primate, Jasprit Bumrah.”
Notably, Guha, former England women’s team captain, herself is of Indian-origin and something coming like this from her is quite unacceptable. She was the first player of Indian-origin to represent England at the international level after her parents Barun Guha and Roma Deb migrated from Kolkata to the United Kingdom in 1970s.
This is not the first time Indian players were subject to racial slurs on their tour to Australia. During India’s tour Down Under in 2021, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj complained of hearing racist slurs from the crowd at the Sydney Cricket ground in the third Test.
What does ‘primate’ mean?
In zoology, ‘primate’ is referred to a group of mammals that lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. The order ‘primate’ includes more than 500 species and is the third most diverse order of mammals, after rodents and bats.
