Azeem Rafiq recalls apology from Matthew Hoggard; says he only needs 'acceptance and apology'

Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq has said that he has only asked for “acceptance and apology” from players who have been involved in acts of racism and inhuman treatment towards him.

While giving testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, one member, MPJulie Elliott asked Azeem if he has received an apology from players privately and he took the name of former England pacer Matthew Hoggard, who offered his apology and his lack of realisation at the time of occurrence of the incidence.

Azeem said that he appreciated Hoggard coming forward to him and accepting that he committed wrong. He also recalled another conversation with one “friend” who said that he would not have done any activity of that sort if he was made aware of what he went through.

“Matthew Hoggard phoned me after my Sky interview,” said Rafiq. “He said he didn’t realise and was really sorry. I really appreciated it.”

"I bumped into a friend a few months after and he said 'We didn't realise we had that affect on you, if you said we would have stopped'.

"That is all I wanted, an acceptance and apology.

Azeem also responded to Michael Vaughan’s claims that he never made anti-Asian remarks while playing for Yorkshire and said that he would not be recalling the events as it “doesn’t mean anything to him”. However, he maintained that it was not just about Vaughan, but the overall process and atmosphere in the Yorkshire dressing room.

“I don’t want to make it all about Michael,” Azeem said. “Michael might not remember it because it doesn’t mean anything to him.”

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Azeem Rafiq makes explosive claims of racism against player of colour by Alex Hales, Gary Ballance

Azeem Rafiq has revealed some remarkably harrowing incidents of racism in the Yorkshire dressing room and players while giving his presenting his case to prove “institutional racism” at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee of the United Kingdom government. He has said that Gary Ballance used to call people of colour by the name “Kevin” and Alex Hales went on to give his dog, who was black in colour, the same name. "Kevin was something Gary [Ballance] used for people of colour in a derogatory manner. All the time. Gary and Alex Hales got very close to each other playing for England but I understand Alex went on to name his dog Kevin because it was black. It is disgusting how much of a joke it became." He also reiterated the episode of racism hurled out at India’s batsman Cheteshwar Pujara by calling him by the name “Steve”. He asserted that all players at Yorkshire started calling him by that name although Pujara was not comfortable with it and it ratifies his call of the Yorkshire’s “institutional failings”. "Everyone called him that, high-profile players around the world, and it shows the institutional failings," says Rafiq. The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee is hearing Rafiq’s statement which will be followed by former Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton and the ECB CEO Tom Harrison, ECB board member Alan Dickinson, director of communications Kate Miller and director of legal and integrity Meena Botros.

Watch: Team India practices for the first time under new leadership of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma

Team India undertook its first practice session for the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting with the first match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The practice session was also the first involving the new head coach of Team India, Rahul Dravid and new T20I captain Rohit Sharma. Both Rohit and Dravid took charge of their new positions after the horrific T20 World Cup campaign of Team India, where it lost to both New Zealand and Pakistan and had its chances of qualifying for the semis over after its first two games itself. While Dravid overtook Ravi Shastri as the head coach whose contract expired at the end of the World Cup, Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as India T20I captain irrespective of the result, post the World Cup meant that Rohit, who was his deputy overtook the charge of the captain in the shortest format. KL Rahul has been appointed as Rohit’s deputy.

Rahul Dravid knows me inside out & has guided me a lot: Yuzvendra Chahal

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was earlier appointed as the senior team’s head coach and his first assignment after taking up the post will be the T20I series against New Zealand at home. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who is back in the team talked about Dravid in a conversation with The Times of India. The leg-spinner said that he has spent a lot of time with Dravid earlier while playing for the ‘A’ side and it is good to have someone of his stature as the coach. “I have already played a lot of India A matches under Rahul sir. In fact, the Sri Lanka tour also was under him. It is a good feeling. He is a legend of the game. I know him already and have played a lot of cricket under his coaching so it would be interesting. He knows me inside out and has supported and guided me a lot,” Chahal said. Dravid has had a coaching stint with the India U19 and ‘A’ side as well and produced some brilliant results. While the U19 team ended as the runners up in the 2016 edition of the World Cup, the side lifted the trophy in 2018. Apart from this, Dravid had travelled with the Indian team to Sri Lanka as the coach earlier this year for a limited overs tour as the then coaching staff headed by Ravi Shastri was in the UK with the Virat Kohli-led side for the WTC final and England series.

IND vs NZ | 1st T20I: Early and consistent onset of dew to limit unfair advantage of toss

There will be little to no impact of the toss in the first T20I between India and New Zealand with high chances of dew falling well before the scheduled start of the game. The officials at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur has said that dew has started falling by 7 pm in the evening in the last two days and the trend is likely to continue. The toss advantage was remarkably visible in the just-concluded T20 World Cup and in almost all the matches, teams batting second got the better conditions to bat on and there were clear signs of toss severely impacting the performance of sides, for both good and the bad. “Here in Jaipur, there could be dew in the first innings itself going by the last two days which minimises the toss advantage to a certain extent. Since it is a T20, one has to expect lots of runs from this surface,” said an official to PTI. “We will use the anti-dew spray on match day but we have all seen its effect is very limited.” A high chance of dew falling will compel both the hosts India and New Zealand while selecting their playing XI especially with regards to the number of spinners in the side. If not for dew, India would have been comfortable fielding a spin-heavy attack but now they will have to give a hard look to the dew and nature of the surface. The pitch is expected to be flat and stroke makers in both sides should love to hit through the line using the balls coming onto their bats due to dew falling heavily at the night.