England skipper Joe Root has said that it is hard for him to see his friend and former colleague in County Cricket, Azeem Rafiq going through a tumultuous phase. He recognised the need for improvement in the development of the game as a more inclusive sport in the light of a report by the Yorkshire County over allegations of racism by Rafiq.
Prioritising the elephant in the room that is the issue of racism, Root said that there should be continuous “conversations” over it to make the game more “diverse” and create more “opportunities”.
"As a former team-mate and friend, it's hard to see Azeem hurting as he is. More than anything, it just shows that there is a lot of work we have to do in the game. It's a societal issue in my opinion. We have seen it in other sports; we have seen it in other areas. As a sport, we have got to keep trying to find ways of making sure this isn't a conversation that keeps happening. We have got to find ways of creating more opportunities, making our game more diverse and educating better,” Root said.
"I don't think that just comes from players and administrators: it's from everyone in the game. There has got to be a want and a will to do that. It is something we have to prioritise as a sport and make sure this isn't something that happens again further down the line."
Earlier last week, the Yorkshire County had conceded that Rafiq was subjected to “inappropriate behaviour” while he was playing for the county and they also extended a “profound apology” for the same.
Rafiq had first reported the allegations of racism late last year following which the county launched an independent investigation and its report was published last week after a lot of controversy over the delay.