Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has come under the scanner of the fans for allegedly 'racist' remark on England fast bowler Jofra Archer during the match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2025 on Sunday (March 23).
The incident happened in the 18th over of the SRH innings when Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen were taking apart Archer in the final over of his spell. Archer was enduring a bad day with the ball as he conceded 76 runs in four overs, becoming the bowler to register the most expensive spell in IPL history.
Harbhajan's remark came when Klaasen smacked him for consecutive boundaries in the 18th over when he said on Hindi commentary, "London me kaali taxi ka meter tez bhaagta hai, Aur yaha pe Archer sahab ka meter bhi tez bhaaga hai ((In London the black cabs meter runs fast and here the meter of Archer runs fast)."
Though the remark looked unintentional from Harbhajan Singh, it hasn't gone down well with many on social media who demanded for his removal from commentary.
As far as the match is concerned, SRH pummelled 286 runs after being invited to bat first by the Royals. Ishan Kishan slammed a 44-ball century on his debut for the franchise even as Travis Head also slammed 67 runs off just 31 deliveries. In response, the Royals lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag early but they kept scoring runs at a high pace courtesy of Dhruv Jurel (70 off 35) and Sanju Samson (66 off 37) to remain in the hunt.
Shubham Dubey and Shimron Hetmyer smashed runs at will in the death overs after their dismissal to power the Royals to 242 runs in their 20 overs as they went down by just 44 runs. The margin could've easily been a huge one if not for the fight put up by the Royals baters.