PUBG unban date in Bangladesh

NEW DELHI – Pakistani national Adeeba Barakat is one of the youngest cricketers to be banned in two days’ time for a racist remark during an IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, Dec. 9 at Gurgaon Cricket Stadium. A video surfaced showing Barakat yelling out “brown cow dung” on umpire’s call and was later deleted by BCCI amid uproar. The 20-year-old right arm pacer said he had been advised by his coach that he should keep silence while being called for his comment.

Briefing media outlets, Barakat said he didn’t know what it meant by saying this but that he thought the gesture could have been taken in a jocular manner and wasn’t sure if it was deliberate or not. He said the word “brown cow dung” in reference to the state animal has the same meanings as those used by some people as racial slurs about someone else. Barakat also went on to say that he would request the authorities to ban him from playing cricket again after his remarks against black players. Later on Wednesday night, another Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Rizwan was suspended in his hometown Karachi by PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) for using racially degrading language during play on Tuesday, Dec. 8. Two videos showed Rizwan saying he will never get into white ball matches ever again. According to the rules announced by PCB chairman Ramiz Raja, all athletes should abide by the board’s guidelines and not go beyond them if there are any breaches.

Earlier, Barakat took to social media to reveal his message towards a person dressed in a brown t-shirt who asked for his phone number. In the caption, he wrote: “If I had any chance to change my team tomorrow, I would ask for @danielbogooda’s number and tell him “brown cow dung” (brown cow dung).” It’s worth mentioning here that there wasn’t anything said regarding Barakat himself by anyone wearing a t-shirt with such words, but Barakat is well capable enough to make this kind of statement just as easily as what he did when he faced opposition.

He has already apologised to the entire planet when he initially made these comments but then continued to use offensive language by calling himself a Muslim in the process. It came to light on Thursday that he has now issued a formal apology, as per official sources. Earlier this week, in one of their meetings over dinner, Barakat had reportedly spoken about feeling discriminated against because he was a non-Pakistan player in English speaking leagues, especially Twenty20 leagues.

In addition to Barakat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shambha Virajmani, Khushdil Shah and Sohail Tanvir were all targeted with the foul words, which they had used to describe batsmen’s bodies. As expected, quite a few cricketers had come out condemning the move by the ICC to announce new bans during the first game of Day 1 against New Zealand, which started at 1:30 p.m. IST on Tuesday.

A few hours later, Punjab Kings opener Chris Gayle and Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni voiced their strong objection against the action taken by the governing Indian body. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said: “It is very unfortunate and discriminatory. No doubt, the ICC should have thought before announcing the interim/final bans. This isn’t going to help our economy and we need more international cricket.”

The most obvious reaction of many players was that they wanted to fight back the haters. However, the response by Barakat only further proved how much bigger the sport is than even professional sports. His teammates decided to stand silently with him along with thousands of others who were waiting outside the stadium.

Meanwhile, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting and ex-England batsman Andrew Strauss both supported Barakat’s decision of standing down in the face of such racism.