Arshdeep Singh’s ‘Dark’ Joke Shows What Buddy Banter Cannot Be

If, like me, you’ve been afflicted with chronic onlinement—the affliction of our age—you may have come across cricketer Arshdeep Singh walking the streets of Dharamshala in his PJs and a female friend in tow a few days ago. The India pacer was promptly papped in the hill town that lends it name to the scenic cricket stadium, one of the Punjab Kings’ two bases in the Indian Premier League. Usually, you are unlikely to see an international cricketer going about their day with such nonchalance, but props to Singh for not having lost his naïveté in the continuing churn of link-ups and online gossip. Maybe he likes attention.

Suddenly, it seems like we’re watching a bit too much of this athlete on our social media feeds. Earlier this week, Singh’s Instagram and Snapchat story with an unsavoury interaction with his India teammate Tilak Varma went viral. In the clip, Singh was seen addressing the Hyderabad batter as “andhere” (the dark), asking Varma if he had applied sunscreen. This may or may not have been based on the latter’s recent association with a skincare brand, but it was definitive proof of thoughtlessly reproducing a culture of colourism.

It’s hard to make anything conclusively of the expression on Varma’s face after that question was asked—a combination of confusion and vague discomfort. It’s not quite possible to know for sure what kind of equation Singh and Varma share. What is for sure, however, is that Singh, who is known for his affinity for short-form “content” and jokey vlogs that are supposed to be funny, needs a social media curfew.

Varma isn’t the only fellow cricketer to have been at the receiving end of Singh’s casual racism. The pacer has apparently mocked Gujarat Titans’ opener Sai Sudharsan’s complexion, targeting his lips and face. Sakib Hussain, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s breakout speedster this season, was the other contemporary that Singh mocked, wondering how the former might look if his franchise jersey, like the kit pants, was black, too.

This is surprising for someone in the spotlight who has been subjected to a widespread hate campaign for dropping a catch. In 2022, Singh was trolled online and called traitor after he spilled Asif Ali, who later went on to score runs that led to a Pakistan win in the Asia Cup. His Wikipedia page was edited to link him to the Khalistani movement, in keeping with social media bigots’ favourite shtick—anti-nationalism. For a 23-year-old, that kind of a vicious personal attack could be crushing and harrowing.

And yet, Singh doesn’t seem to realise the wages of public humiliation.

All along, a considerable number of fans have suggested that he meant it all purely as harmless hazing. Banter between buddies. That anyone rushing to Varma’s defence or that of Hussain and Sudharsan was being overzealous. But the truth is—no matter how difficult we find stomaching it in a culture like ours, where objecting to bullying and name-calling makes you ‘sensitive’—Singh might have experienced racial and colourist slurs as an essential rite of passage during his junior days, but he cannot get away with it at the pro level. In a sport so avidly watched and followed in our country, normalising casual racism is setting a poor example. Moreover, Singh’s pattern of making jokes about skin tone really says something about what he feels humour is. That behaviour has to be nipped in the bud—maybe coach Ricky Ponting has to have a chat with him.

What makes all this even worse is the India white-ball regular has been having a bad season. He’s given away close to 10 runs per over in this edition of the IPL. He’s bowled more wides than your wrong-footed cousin who you are forced to play on your team during the gully cricket tournament. In fact, Singh bowled an 11-ball over in the season opener. After four games, he had bowled 16 wides. In contrast, all of his targets—Varma, Hussain and Sudharsan—have had a great season so far.

And that—at the risk of sounding like a reproachful family elder—is one sign Singh, who is known to swing the ball both ways, needs to lose the fun and focus on the games for a while.