Kerry O' Keefe Makes Distasteful Comment on Mayank Agarwal & Ranji Trophy During Boxing Day Test; Aussie Commentator Apologises After Being Slammed by Netizens!

Australian commentator and former player Kerry O’ Keefe has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Keefe while being on air downplayed Mayank Agarwal’s triple ton he got during the third Test between India and Australia at MCG. O’Keefe said that Agarwal’s triple ton in Ranji Trophy came against “canteen staff. “Apparently he got the triple against the Railways canteen staff,” he said. He later joked about a kitchen hand opening the bowling. He also went on to joke about Agarwal’s average and said, “his average in India is 50 which like 40 in Australia.” VVS Laxman Slams Indian Team Management for Sending Hanuma Vihari to Open the Innings During IND vs AUS, Boxing Day Test.

The comments surely did not go down well with the netizens and the Indian cricket fans took to social media to vent out their anger. A few fans went on to label the comment as racist. A few cricket experts from Australia also slammed Kerry O’ Keefe and said that it was unfair on Keefe’s part to make such comments for a cheap laugh. Check out a few tweets below. Virat Kohli Breaks VVS Laxman’s Record, Moves Second on List of Most International Runs by an Indian Against Australia. 

“It might just be me, but it's pretty uncool to ridicule the FC comp of another country while using dubious stereotypes for a cheap laugh...,” read a tweet.

Another post read, “O’Keefe is a buffoon. That diatribe on the #RanjiTrophy competition was a. Classic casual racism, b. Disgracefully inaccurate. Strong competition providing an excellent breeding ground for test cricket. I thought we’d got rid of this rubbish with 9 losing the gig.”

“Just shows a lack of respect for other countries n when u say stuff like that ur own fc comp needs to b close to perfect and even then it still will come across in abad light it’s all good to have a laugh but not at the expense of disrespecting another countries comp.” read a post.

After much of an uproar, Kerry O’Keefe apologised for the comment and said it was tongue in cheek humour and he did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments. “I was mentioning the runs Agarwal got in first-class cricket in India and there’s been a reaction,” he said. “There was no way I was demeaning the standard, it was tongue in cheek. There are lots of runs scored so apologies if anyone out there took offence,” he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2018 07:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).