Isa Guha Accused Of Racism For Calling Jasprit Bumrah ‘Primate’ On Air – News18

Last Updated:December 15, 2024, 17:42 IST

Isa Guha, who is herself of Indian origin, used a racially-sensitive slur ‘Primate’ for Jasprit Bumrah.

English commentator Isa Guha was on Sunday accused of racism for calling Indian vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah a ‘primate’ on live commentary during the second Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Gabba.

The incident, now viral on social media, happened in the first half an hour of the play. Bumrah bowled a fiery spell, taking out both openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney in quick succession. This made former Aussie pacer Brett Lee rave about him.

“Bumrah, today: five overs, 2-4. So, that’s the tone, and that’s what you want from the ex-skipper,” Lee said.

In response, Guha said:

“Well, he’s the MVP, isn’t he? Most valuable primate, Jasprit Bumrah,” she added.

Here’s a video recorded and uploaded by a fan on X:

It couldn’t be immediately confirmed if the comment was a slip of the tongue from Guha. But considering the former England captain is herself of Indian origin, it sent shockwaves through social media. Her parents, Barun Guha and Roma Deb, emigrated from Kolkata to the UK in the 1970s and she was the first player of Indian origin to represent England.

However, that didn’t stop the accusations online.

“Did Isa Guha holiday in Townsville or Longreach between tests? Calling Jasprit Bumrah the MVP but then breaking it down to a “Most Valuable Primate” a few minutes ago was something else,” one X user wrote.

“Monkey gate! Isha just called Bumrah a primate hahah,” another said.

The incident just adds to the tainted history of racism between Indian and Australian cricketers. The Monkeygate incident is one of them, which saw spinner Harbhajan Singh accused of calling Andre Symonds a monkey in the controversial second Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2008.

Even in the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, Mohammed Siraj and other Indians were racially abused at multiple venues.

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Brisbane, Australia