Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has found himself at the receiving end of criticism and trolling for saying he embraces the culture in Chennai as he is “also Brahmin”. The Uttar Pradesh-based cricketer, Suresh Raina made these statements when he was invited to join the commentary during the opening game of the ongoing 5th edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).
The first match of the TNPL’s 5th season was played between Salem Spartans and Lyca Kovai Kings on Monday. During the match, a commentator asked Suresh Raina, who is more like a backbone of the Chennai Super Kings squad in the IPL, about how he has embraced the south Indian culture, given he has been seen wearing a veshti, dancing, and whistling — CSK’s catchphrase is “whistle podu” (blow the whistle).
Responding to the statement, Suresh Raina said that he is also a Brahmin and the same stirred a controversy. He had said:
“I think, I am also Brahmin. I have been playing since 2004 in Chennai, I love the culture… I love my teammates. I have played with Anirudha Srikanth, Badri (Subramaniam Badrinath), Bala Bhai (L Balaji)… I think you need to learn something good from there. We have a good administration, we have the license to explore ourselves. I love the culture there, and I’m lucky to be part of CSK. Hopefully, we will play more matches there.”
Well, the controversy didn’t go down well with the fans, who started trolling the cricketer left, right, and center for his remark. However, there were many who also came out in support of Raina after he faced backlash from the fans.
Here, check out the reactions of twitterati on this:
Suresh Raina is Trending
Full support to you Babe @ImRaina?
PS : Even I’m Brahman! What’s wrong in that if we are proud of it? #मैं_भी_ब्राह्मण pic.twitter.com/QONIINFAzV
— Sakshi
(@Sakshi_Raina3) July 21, 2021
(@Sakshi_Raina3) https://twitter.com/JamesKL95/status/1417148507970887683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1417148507970887683%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Findia%2Fsuresh-raina-tnpl-commentary-brahmin-chennai-7413303%2F
Everyone whether he/she is an OBC or SC/ST or Tamil must be proud of what they are.
That is what Suresh Raina doing and I don’t think it’s hurt to emotions of any caste and religion.
Be proud of what we are.
I firmly stand with Raina.
I am proud of being brahmin#मैं_भी_ब्राह्मण pic.twitter.com/HwY8Ay2ZeP— Amit. (@Its_Mahi_7) July 21, 2021
Brazen. Ugh. https://t.co/WwTjLgreCw
— Shri (@shrishrishrii) July 19, 2021
I’m strongly stand with Suresh Raina#मैं_भी_ब्राह्मण@ImRaina pic.twitter.com/2XQXi0Od0J
— सुनीत भार्गव ?? (@bhargav_sonu72) July 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/EurasianBrahman/status/1417874774777204736?s=20
#मैं_भी_ब्राह्मण #Arya #Rafale #SalmanKhan #BiggBossOTT #whoisbalakrishna #SarpattaParambarai
Suresh Raina calling himself #Brahmin is communal or casteist. But thousands of mosques screaming “There is No god but #Allah” 5 times a day in multi religious country is secularism. pic.twitter.com/ewTN4B7lEy
— I Oppose Conversion (@IOpposeConvrsn) July 21, 2021
@ImRaina you should be ashamed yourself.
It seems that you have never experienced real Chennai culture though you have been playing many years for Chennai team. https://t.co/ZICLRr0ZLh
— Suresh (@suresh010690) July 19, 2021
