Shane Warne draws flak for ‘casual racism’ against Cheteshwar Pujara

Australian cricketer Shane Warne has drawn ire of cricket fans for referring to Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara as "Steve" and saying that the latter's name is too hard to pronounce.

Warne was speaking about Pujara on air after the match between India and Australia in Adelaide on Thursday and casually referred to the latter as "Steve". According to reports, Warne also went on to discuss with his fellow commentators that Pujara's name was quite difficult to pronounce. Hence, he preferred to use the nickname that was commonly used for Pujara by his former Yorkshire teammates.

However, cricket fans have now accused Warne of casual racism for refusing to learn his colleague, Pujara's actual name. Warne's comments come amid a raging debate about racism by the players and workers at English club Yorkshire.