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Shane Warne's "Steve" comment about Cheteshwar Pujara

omairsiddiqui

omairsiddiqui

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Anyone hear Shane Warne saying that Pujara's nickname was "Steve" and then talking about how difficult it was to pronounce his first name?

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.
 
No no no. Shane Warne was talking about Pujara bring called Steve in Yorkshire. Look it up.

Warne is actually an alright bloke. He just sounds like a bogan idiot. But he is a nice bloke in real life.
 
Still remember how he commented on Younis Khan during the English tour:

"is he taking notes in English?" Only a person who has a superiority complex would say such a thing. Can we expect Ramiz or Wasim to say the same thing about Pointing or Langer?

That comment was so out of the blue and one could sense he was mocking YK for taking notes.

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a closet racist.
 
tyron_woodley said:
No no no. Shane Warne was talking about Pujara bring called Steve in Yorkshire. Look it up.

Warne is actually an alright bloke. He just sounds like a bogan idiot. But he is a nice bloke in real life.
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Mate, he said 'Steve' was Pujara's nickname. Steve was what they called every Asian cricketer at Yorkshire because they couldn't bother learning how the name was actually pronounced. It's not a nickname. It's racist and derogatory. On top of it all, Warne and Kerry laughed about it.

You just can't go through an Aussie summer without a tone-deaf, racist, cringeworthy comment from someone in the comm box. Didn't think it would happen so early in the season.
 
Calling Pujara “Steve” is not a nickname rather it shows that they made no effort to learn to pronounce his name and just renamed him. Pretty dehumanizing.

Would Shane be ok if people in India/Pakistan called him Shahid or Shankar?
 
Has spent so much time earning his buck in India, yet hasn’t taken any pains to learn how to pronounce South Asian names?
 
I think Warne was talking about Pujara’s time in Yorkshire wasn’t he? IIRC Yorkshire is the county that Azeem Rafeeq accused of racism. This adds weight to his story.
 
Doesn't matter what Warne was talking about. In general, he talks like a jackass.
 
Warne has always been a motormouth.

When you're churning out 400 words per minute it's inevitable you're going to put your foot in the mouth sometime.
 
Was he castigating yorkshire about its use?

If he wasnt and was calling pujara that then obviously racist conotations were being implied by him
 
This kind of casual, tone-deaf racism is fairly common among the Australians. Last time India toured Kerry O'Keefe (who was laughing at Warne's remark today) was making comments like: "Why would you call your kid Cheteshwar Jadeja?" and something along the lines of: the standard of Indian domestic cricket because Agarwal scored his triple century against the Canteen XI team.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
This kind of casual, tone-deaf racism is fairly common among the Australians. Last time India toured Kerry O'Keefe (who was laughing at Warne's remark today) was making comments like: "Why would you call your kid Cheteshwar Jadeja?" and something along the lines of: the standard of Indian domestic cricket because Agarwal scored his triple century against the Canteen XI team.
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Yeah cricket commentators are a reflection of the people, lets not forget about :akhtar
 
Gilly said:
Yeah cricket commentators are a reflection of the people, lets not forget about :akhtar
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Also it's not like racism in Australia is a topic that I just opened out of the blue. Everyone is well-aware of who used to inhabit Australia before they were relentlessly killed, with their children sent to white families to be "civilized". But sticking to the topic, even in cricket visiting teams have had a long history of hearing racist slurs from the crowds. Dan Christian basically blew the lid off the kind of racism aboriginal cricketers continue to face. And Khawaja has been no less candid about his experiences.

I never meant to say that the all Australians are racists but clearly Australia has a long, racist history, and those attitudes continue to show in casual events like the one today.
 
Btw [MENTION=732]Gilly[/MENTION] you haven’t said a word about Warne’s comments. Do you find them racist?
 
They probably don’t even realise they’re doing anything wrong (Warne, O’Keefe etc). It’s like Gavaskar and his silly West Indian accent - some find that offensive in this day and age.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Also it's not like racism in Australia is a topic that I just opened out of the blue. Everyone is well-aware of who used to inhabit Australia before they were relentlessly killed, with their children sent to white families to be "civilized". But sticking to the topic, even in cricket visiting teams have had a long history of hearing racist slurs from the crowds. Dan Christian basically blew the lid off the kind of racism aboriginal cricketers continue to face. And Khawaja has been no less candid about his experiences.

I never meant to say that the all Australians are racists but clearly Australia has a long, racist history, and those attitudes continue to show in casual events like the one today.
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In every country that is multicultural there is racism, you wont see racism in say India when the crowd is 98% Indian and all the players are Indian. Thats not to say Indians are not racist though, they are just as racist as the next person.
 
Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne finds himself in hot water after he made a reference to one of Cheteshwar Pujara's nicknames 'Steve' coined by his former Yorkshire teammates during Day 1 of the ongoing pink-ball Test in Adelaide.

Warne made the casual reference when he was on air for Fox Cricket along with his fellow commentators, saying that Pujara was called 'Steve' by his Yorkshire teammates during the India batsman's county stint as his first name Cheteshwar was hard to pronounce.

Warne shared a laugh with his colleagues after making the reference but it has not gone down well with the fans of the sport.

Pujara himself revealed in the past that he was called 'Steve' but the nickname was in the news as recently as December 5 as Yorkshire launched an investigation into allegations of institutional racism at the English county club. Notably, Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq had filed a case against Yorkshire, claiming he was discriminated against on the basis of race at the club.

While giving evidence to back Rafiq's claims, a former Yorkshire employee Taj Butt had alleged that Yorkshire players called 'every player of colour' Steve. Notably, Butt resigned from his job of community development officer at the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation within 6 weeks of joining.

"There were continuous references to taxi drivers and restaurant workers when referring to Asian community," Butt was quoted as saying.

"They called every person of colour 'Steve'. Even Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name."


https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cr...ns-reaction-pink-ball-test-1750385-2020-12-17
 
El Generico said:
Btw [MENTION=732]Gilly[/MENTION] you haven’t said a word about Warne’s comments. Do you find them racist?
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I played cricket for 30 years in Australia and I know why people say things like that. Warne was not being racist, he was trying to be funny and he says some very crass things at times but that is Warne he will talk for the sake of talking. No one is called by their true names and most redheads will be called "Bluey" if you are short you will be called shorty, if you have skinny legs you will be called pidge, the list goes on. I dont really get what is offensive about it. So what they come from south east asia, is that a big deal.
 
Gilly said:
I played cricket for 30 years in Australia and I know why people say things like that. Warne was not being racist, he was trying to be funny and he says some very crass things at times but that is Warne he will talk for the sake of talking. No one is called by their true names and most redheads will be called "Bluey" if you are short you will be called shorty, if you have skinny legs you will be called pidge, the list goes on. I dont really get what is offensive about it. So what they come from south east asia, is that a big deal.
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There is a difference between nicknames and renaming someone randomly because you wouldn’t even make an effort to pronounce their name. The latter has a history of racism. Next time Warne comes to India, the Indian commentator should refer to him as Shankar, it would be interesting to see his reaction.
 
El Generico said:
There is a difference between nick names and renaming someone randomly because you wouldn’t even make an effort to pronounce their name. Next time Warne comes to India, the Indian commentator should refer to him as Shankar, it would be interesting to see his reaction.
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Dont know if you are watching the match but you will hear the Aussie fielders calling Nathan Lyon "Garry" its not his real name, its the name of a famous (in Australia) AFL players name. Even names like Smith are changed to Smitty, its just a thing that Aussies do. And if we cant remember your name then we call you "mate".
 
Gilly said:
In every country that is multicultural there is racism, you wont see racism in say India when the crowd is 98% Indian and all the players are Indian. Thats not to say Indians are not racist though, they are just as racist as the next person.
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Racism in white countries and racism in countries of the global south are different things. For one thing, racism in white countries is underpinned by a history of colonialism, plunder and exploitation, which is why when white people direct such attitudes towards brown or black people, it harkens back to those old notions of superiority that the colonizers had towards the colonized, and hence draws a distinct kind of ire.
 
Gilly said:
Dont know if you are watching the match but you will hear the Aussie fielders calling Nathan Lyon "Garry" its not his real name, its the name of a famous (in Australia) AFL players name. Even names like Smith are changed to Smitty, its just a thing that Aussies do. And if we cant remember your name then we call you "mate".
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omairsiddiqui said:
Mate, he said 'Steve' was Pujara's nickname. Steve was what they called every Asian cricketer at Yorkshire because they couldn't bother learning how the name was actually pronounced. It's not a nickname. It's racist and derogatory. On top of it all, Warne and Kerry laughed about it.

You just can't go through an Aussie summer without a tone-deaf, racist, cringeworthy comment from someone in the comm box. Didn't think it would happen so early in the season.
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^
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Racism in white countries and racism in countries of the global south are different things. For one thing, racism in white countries is underpinned by a history of colonialism, plunder and exploitation, which is why when white people direct such attitudes towards brown or black people, it harkens back to those old notions of superiority that the colonizers had towards the colonized, and hence draws a distinct kind of ire.
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All the people that colonized countries are now dead. The world is multicultural now, your color means nothing to anyone else.
 
Gilly said:
All the people that colonized countries are now dead. The world is multicultural now, your color means nothing to anyone else.
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This is hilarious coming from a Trump supporter. Color means nothing yet we cannot learn to pronounce your name if you are non white and will only learn your name if you are white. Color means nothing but I will support a racist who called for the lynching of innocent colored men. The world is multi cultured yet I always side with racists and always support people like Trump

A Trump supporter downplaying racism is like the sun rising in the east everyday

Dude, you think this is fooling anyone?
 
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Indiafan said:
This is hilarious coming from a Trump supporter. Color means nothing yet we cannot learn to pronounce your name if you are non white and will only learn your name if you are white. Color means nothing but I will support a racist who called for the lynching of innocent colored men. The world is multi cultured yet I always side with racists and always support people like Trump

A Trump supporter downplaying racism is like the sun rising in the east everyday

Dude, you think this is fooling anyone?
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So you are superior to me than I take it?.
 
Gilly said:
All the people that colonized countries are now dead. The world is multicultural now, your color means nothing to anyone else.
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Racism is all to pervasive in white countries, as are those old colonial attitudes and notions of superiority. If they weren't people like O'Keefe wouldn't think it was okay to make fun of the names of Indian players. The very fact that he thought he was being "tongue in cheek" says all that needs to be said. This is just one small thing. These attitudes exist on much larger levels in white countries that parade the banner of liberalism even as institutional racism and social marginalization of non-whites continues in their countries unabated.
 
Gilly said:
In every country that is multicultural there is racism, you wont see racism in say India when the crowd is 98% Indian and all the players are Indian. Thats not to say Indians are not racist though, they are just as racist as the next person.
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This is true. I wouldnt say racist. Australians have favourites. There is favouritsm. Ofcourse you always get the odd idiot but it's rare.
Bigots more like tbf.
 
Snowflake said:
Still remember how he commented on Younis Khan during the English tour:

"is he taking notes in English?" Only a person who has a superiority complex would say such a thing. Can we expect Ramiz or Wasim to say the same thing about Pointing or Langer?

That comment was so out of the blue and one could sense he was mocking YK for taking notes.

Wouldn't surprise me if he's a closet racist.
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What's wrong with saying that
 
Varun said:
Warne has always been a motormouth.

When you're churning out 400 words per minute it's inevitable you're going to put your foot in the mouth sometime.
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Indeed this is a trait of the Aussies. They talk very fast. A bit like how the Spanish lot speak their language.
 
These were very stupid comments from Warne. Just find it mind boggling how some of our fans want to criticize Warne for this but were defending Sarfraz comments towards Andile Phehlukwayo. Especially as some South Africans of black skin were offended by Sarfrazs comments.
 
Hasan123 said:
These were very stupid comments from Warne. Just find it mind boggling how some of our fans want to criticize Warne for this but were defending Sarfraz comments towards Andile Phehlukwayo. Especially as some South Africans of black skin were offended by Sarfrazs comments.
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Hasan loves to expose ‘our fans’ with his generalisation
 
topspin said:
You come across as a far-right person so I wouldn't blame him for thinking that he is superior to your views.
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I get a bit of that, its usually people that hate whites and/or the west. They call you far right so they can then rail against whites and/or the west.
 
Gilly said:
I get a bit of that, its usually people that hate whites and/or the west. They call you far right so they can then rail against whites and/or the west.
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Nah don't kid yourself, you're just a poor mans Fraser Anning.
 
Gilly said:
I get a bit of that, its usually people that hate whites and/or the west. They call you far right so they can then rail against whites and/or the west.
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Yes yes white Australians are all saints. If someone is being racist towards a non white, it's the fault of the latter as the said invidual plays the victim card. Nice diplomatic rebuttal. They are all kind hearted, sweet and very loving to people of colour.

For me personally I love Australia. I have had absolutely no problems. But I can't say the same for all, particularly those who weren't born in Australia or have very non caucasian facial features. I have worked in HR before and believe me racism is quite pervasive in such industries. A white sounding name often will get more responses from our management team.
 
Rana said:
Warne is an old school casual racist
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Person who would never dream of saying/doing something racist on purpose but still has those old attitudes he isn't even aware of probably sums him up.

His best mate in Australia is a 'shock jock" type retired footballer who was finally sacked from his TV media job this year after years of old school casual racism as "humour" and even outright racism (from blackface to abusing, insulting & cursing George Floyd after his death). So it's pretty clear Warne tolerates that kind of thing- probably calls it free speech.
 
Ignorance rather than racism I guess.

Not the sharpest is Warnie.
 
wrongun said:
Person who would never dream of saying/doing something racist on purpose but still has those old attitudes he isn't even aware of probably sums him up.

His best mate in Australia is a 'shock jock" type retired footballer who was finally sacked from his TV media job this year after years of old school casual racism as "humour" and even outright racism (from blackface to abusing, insulting & cursing George Floyd after his death). So it's pretty clear Warne tolerates that kind of thing- probably calls it free speech.
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This! Nicely summed up.
 
wrongun said:
Person who would never dream of saying/doing something racist on purpose but still has those old attitudes he isn't even aware of probably sums him up.

His best mate in Australia is a 'shock jock" type retired footballer who was finally sacked from his TV media job this year after years of old school casual racism as "humour" and even outright racism (from blackface to abusing, insulting & cursing George Floyd after his death). So it's pretty clear Warne tolerates that kind of thing- probably calls it free speech.
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You get what I mean bro. I know a few of these old school Aussies. Summed it up quite well. I remember Warnie once saying things like “In india, a cheese sandwich is literally a sandwich with cheese inside and that’s it”, whilst ranting about how tough he found the Indian tours during the 90s.
 
Bullet Drive said:
What's wrong with saying that
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Think about it for a bit and it'll come to you.

Would any of the Pakistani/Indian commentators make a comment about which language a foreign coach is taking notes in? How ridiculous and meaningless does that question sound?

That comment had a clear negative undertone to it. You'd only say something like that if you are trying to mock someone's literary capabilities.
 
I think Warne realized it too and tried to rectify it somewhat by having a go at Bruce Oxenford on air when he gave a short run to Indians.
 
El Generico said:
Calling Pujara “Steve” is not a nickname rather it shows that they made no effort to learn to pronounce his name and just renamed him. Pretty dehumanizing.

Would Shane be ok if people in India/Pakistan called him Shahid or Shankar?
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I don't think they would care. In English/culture they love nicknames which become brands- Freddie, Beefy etc
 
Snowflake said:
Think about it for a bit and it'll come to you.

Would any of the Pakistani/Indian commentators make a comment about which language a foreign coach is taking notes in? How ridiculous and meaningless does that question sound?

That comment had a clear negative undertone to it. You'd only say something like that if you are trying to mock someone's literary capabilities.
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Too much is made of what the commies say. I don't see a problem, literally anything a commentator says offends someone or some group.
 
Snowflake said:
Think about it for a bit and it'll come to you.

Would any of the Pakistani/Indian commentators make a comment about which language a foreign coach is taking notes in? How ridiculous and meaningless does that question sound?

That comment had a clear negative undertone to it. You'd only say something like that if you are trying to mock someone's literary capabilities.
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That should be a compliment to our guys for being bi-lingual. Which Foreign coach is likely to write in Urdu or Hindu.
 
omairsiddiqui said:
Anyone hear Shane Warne saying that Pujara's nickname was "Steve" and then talking about how difficult it was to pronounce his first name?

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.
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I have met Warne in real life many times, he maybe many things but he is definitely not racist.
 
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RedwoodOriginal said:
Also it's not like racism in Australia is a topic that I just opened out of the blue. Everyone is well-aware of who used to inhabit Australia before they were relentlessly killed, with their children sent to white families to be "civilized". But sticking to the topic, even in cricket visiting teams have had a long history of hearing racist slurs from the crowds. Dan Christian basically blew the lid off the kind of racism aboriginal cricketers continue to face. And Khawaja has been no less candid about his experiences.

I never meant to say that the all Australians are racists but clearly Australia has a long, racist history, and those attitudes continue to show in casual events like the one today.
Click to expand...

I was very disgusted at the irony of an all white team donning indigenous colors during the India series to “support” indigenous folks
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
I was very disgusted at the irony of an all white team donning indigenous colors during the India series to “support” indigenous folks
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It's incredibly ironic since Australia has essentially committed a cultural genocide of the Aboriginal people for centuries. I was shocked to learn recently that their policy of taking indigenous children away from their families and putting the children under the care of foster white families to "civilize" them continued until the 1980s!

And then they try to express token gratitude by wearing kits. As if it washes away their dark, racist past.
 
tyron_woodley said:
I agree Warne is actually cool in real life. He just lacks social skills.
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He talks too much. A fellow commentator should cut him off 20 seconds in otherwise he takes what is usually a decent starting point and proceeds to butcher it by chattering non-stop.
 
Warne is actually pretty decent on sky when he has Ward, Atherton, and Hussain around him. The inane lot at Fox, and previously 9, just bring the worst out of him. Another reason to avoid the Fox Cricket coverage like the plague. Much prefer listening to Ponting, Katich, Blewett, Fleming and Gavaskar on 7, even if it means putting up with Slater and Brayshaw. I'd rather the Sony commentary ahead of Fox too, in case the 7 coverage is not available.
 
I think its the problem of most commentators who are retired cricketers themselves. They simply don't do their homework and research, and instead fool around and have fun in the com box.

The commentary box should really be a mix of non-cricketers and retired ones. The non-cricketers often bring professionalism, unique insights, more stats, and overall better TV experience.
 
Gabbar Singh said:
They probably don’t even realise they’re doing anything wrong (Warne, O’Keefe etc). It’s like Gavaskar and his silly West Indian accent - some find that offensive in this day and age.
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But "Canteen XI" is going a bit too far, you'd have to agree, and betrays the sort of ignorant attitude that would've been at home in the Raj. Unless they've been living under a rock, they must know that this sort of thing is considered offensive and insensitive these days.
 
Doubt it was racist, just a bit aussie tone-deaf (no doubt I run the risk of sounding a bit racist here myself...) 😄

Fairly poor commentator though is warne. Quite good when talking tactics or spinners but that is rare. Usually spends his time picking up some non issue and then never backing down on it if challenged.

Most recent example from day 2 of the current Aus-India test:

“over rates blah blah, players nowadays get paid so much (like warne himself had his begging bowl out during his playing days) fines don’t cut it. 25 runs per over penalty in my view, 3 overs and 75 runs is the difference between winning and losing blah blah..”. this when day 1 managed 89 overs anyway.

the other commentator was too diplomatic too call him out outright on his ** and just rightly pointed out that matches now have 3 reviews per innings and including the successful/revoked ones that could cut into time each day “no but still i’m sure boonie takes that into account it’s still disgraceful..”

tendency of dishing it out but getting defensive when on the receiving end reminds me a bit of trump (probably look a bit like him in 20 years as well, already has that weird a*hole shaped mouth like DT too...)
 
Gilly said:
In every country that is multicultural there is racism, you wont see racism in say India when the crowd is 98% Indian and all the players are Indian. Thats not to say Indians are not racist though, they are just as racist as the next person.
Click to expand...

The burden to be non racist is on the white person, so warne should have chosen his words carefully.
 
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