Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (2nd left) is congratulated by teammate Kapil Dev after taking the wicket of England batsman Richard Ellison (not pictured) during the 1st Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 28, 1984. (Photo/Getty Images) Former India spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has spoken about the instances of racism he faced early in his career, including in the Indian dressing room, and how those experiences have affected him over time.Sivaramakrishnan, who played 25 international matches for India, made his Test debut in Antigua in April 1983 at the age of 17 years and 118 days, becoming one of the youngest to represent the country in the format.
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Impact Player Rule: Game Changer or All-Round Killer? Recalling his early tour, he said he felt better in the Caribbean than in his own team environment. “Everyone’s skin color was on the darker side. They were very happy people,” Sivaramakrishnan told The Indian Express. He added that players like Desmond Haynes and the late Malcolm Marshall often spent time with him during his debut Test series.“In the West Indies I was treated very well by the opposition too, in fact my best friends were Desmond Haynes and the late Malcolm Marshall, they took me out almost every night. When there were Test matches I would probably change and shower in the ground, get my pass and leave,” he told The Indian Express.He said the two cricketers showed him around Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados and even invited him to Marshall’s house to watch the old West Indies matches.Sivaramakrishnan also mentioned that Gordon Greenidge, known for being reserved, opened up to him about his own experiences with racism. “He told me personally that that’s what I went through in England and that’s why I just mind my own business, play my cricket and just go.In contrast, he recalled incidents of discrimination in the Indian set-up. As a teenager serving as a bowler, he said a senior Indian player once mistook him for the ground staff and asked him to clean his shoes. “I just looked at him and said, ‘It’s none of my business,'” Sivaramakrishnan told The Indian Express.He also spoke about an incident during the 1983 tour of Pakistan where captain Sunil Gavaskar had arranged a cake for him on his birthday. According to the report, the teammate noted the color of his skin at that moment. “Hey Sunny, you ordered the right color cake. Such a dark chocolate cake for a dark boy,” the teammate allegedly said.Sivaramakrishnan said such experiences continued during domestic and international matches where he was subjected to comments from the crowds. “Because of my darkness, people dismissed me. Every time it happened, I felt hurt. I always wanted to forget, forget, forget, but deep down it’s always rooted and it comes out. All these things put me in a position where I had very low self-esteem at a very young age … it’s very difficult to build self-esteem,” he said.
