Australian commentator 'insults' Mayank Agarwal, Ranji Trophy on air, Indian fans hit back on Twitter

Australia cricketer-turned commentator Kerry O'Keeffe is known for his unique style. However, his comments regarding Indian first-class cricket system and debutant Mayank Agarwal seemed to have caused a controversy. 

According to Indian fans on twitter, O'Keeffe was on air at Fox Sports with Mark Howard and Shane Warne during the third Test match between India and Australia when he made these comments. While discussing Mayank Agarwal, who made his debut in the match, O'Keeffe seemed to have questioned the quality of Indian first-class cricket. According to fans, he said that Mayank Agarwal may have scored his 304 against 'some canteen staff or waiters.' 

O’Keeffe, 69 and a leg-spinner by trade, played 24 Tests for Australia between 1971 to 1977 taking 53 wickets. 

Mayank Agarwal has an exceptional first-class record. Agarwal made his first-class debut against Jharkhand in 2013. Since then, he has played 46 first-class and 75 List A matches for Karnataka, averaging close to 50 in both. In November 2017, he scored his maiden triple century in first-class cricket, when he made 304 not out batting for Karnataka against Maharashtra in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy.

A cricket journalist also tweeted about the incident stating – “it’s pretty uncool to ridicule the FC comp of another country while using dubious stereotypes for a cheap laugh..”

It might just be me, but it's pretty uncool to ridicule the FC comp of another country while using dubious stereotypes for a cheap laugh...

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) December 26, 2018

India fans didn't take kindly to his words and hit back on Twitter with some even saying that his comments were 'racist'. 

O’Keefe is a buffoon. That diatribe on the #RanjiTrophy competition was a. Classic casual racism, b. Disgracefully inaccurate. Strong competition providing an excellent breeding ground for test cricket. I thought we’d got rid of this rubbish with 9 losing the gig.

— Adelaide Barmies (@AdelaideBarmies) December 26, 2018

Kerry O'Keeffe how dare you make a racist comment by saying "Agarwal scored 300 against waiters" ..

Sandpaper guys STFU! #AUSvIND

— Vijayendra Kosigi (@kosigi_vijay11) December 26, 2018

Kerry O'Keeffe, Lord snooty!! Sounds like still living in colonial era #BoxingDayTest #INDvsAUS

— Dilipsinh Abda (@dilipsinhabda) December 26, 2018

Pretty sure this will be the last commentary stint for O'Keeffe. Racism will not go unnoticed by officials. #AUSvIND

— Manya (@CSKian716) December 26, 2018

I hope Mayank gets a big one just to send O'Keeffe back to his place, in the gutter.

— Himamshu (@IconicOziI) December 26, 2018

Mayank Agarwal made an impressive 76 on debut against Australia on Wednesday. 

Mark Waugh, who was also commenting on the match, said that Agarwal’s first-class average of upwards of 50 is like 40 in Australia. When Waugh was questioned on Twitter, he was quick to clarify.

All I said was averaging 50 in first class cricket in India is equivalent to averaging 40 in Aust mainly because of the number of players who achieve that. For the record Agarwal played very well in his 1st test innings.

— Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) December 26, 2018

Kerry O’Keeffe also apologised for his comments while on commentary later.