Sandalwood actor Chetan Ahimsa. ( File Photo)
CHAMARAJNAGAR: Actor Chetan Ahimsa has courted fresh controversy by saying that the Indian cricket team is overrepresented by dominant castes and it could become more formidable by inclusion of underprivileged castes.
At a programme organised to observe the death anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, which is observed as Parinirvan Divas, in Chamarajnagar on Sunday, he said after apartheid came to an end in South Africa, the cricket team there started including blacks. As a result, the team emerged stronger and the country became one of the top cricketing nations, he said.
He said before this, talented black players were kept out merely because of their skin colour. “In India, even talented lower caste players, like SCs and STs, are not able to make it to the national team. I will write to cricketing legend and BCCI chief Roger Binny, who is from Karnataka, and to PM Narendra Modi too.”
He said the cricket team in India has largely been dominated by upper castes and SCs and STs seldom make it to the national team, even when talented, because the selection process needs to be more fair and inclusive. He said they have grossly been under represented when it comes to cricket, especially in the national team.
