‘Growing intolerance’ among Aussies against Indian cricketers

Indian sports lovers settled in various parts of Australia are upset over the alleged growing intolerance among native spectators, who watch sports events together with Indians.

Unpleasant behaviour of a large number of Aussies present in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) following sledging by Virat Kohli during a Border Gavaskar Trophy match seems to have prompted NRIs settled in Australia to express their agony through various platforms, including social media.

Indian cricket lovers were also upset over the avoidable mocking of Kohli as, according to them, Aussies have more to say about Indian cricket than their own, be it good or bad.

“I was very fortunate to spend the first two days of the Boxing Day Test with the members at the MCG watching the contest and the spectacle. However, the most disturbing part was the casual racism that is rampant amongst the privileged (supposedly educated classes) I was rubbing shoulders with. Their behaviour and attitude are much more offensive than anything Kohli might have done on the cricketing pitch,” read a public message posted by a cricket fan, Vivek Chaudhary, a Business School lecturer at Melbourne.

Another Indian sports lover from Melbourne, Jitender Singh, alleged that Aussies had failed to comprehend that sports were meant to bring people together and not to find a reason to develop and promote rivalry.

“In sports rivalry, being synonymous with competition is not a bad thing, but the underlying attitude of racism in Australia is still far more prevalent than many Indians like to believe,” said Singh.

Uttam Punj, another cricket fan settled in Melbourne, lamented that the Aussies had more to say about the Indian cricket than their own, be it good or bad. “Despite Steve Smith’s well-earned 34th century, Aussie’s talk was about Rohit Sharma’s team,” said Punj, saying that it was good that Indian cricket was keeping people engaged.

“We fail to understand why people forget to underscore sportsmanship in the name of a trophy that is instituted to recognise former captains of the cricket teams of Australia and India — Alan Border and Sunil Gavaskar,” said Punj.