From being called a 'Paki' to getting smaller rooms, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan opens up on his experience at Yorkshire

Former Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan spoke about the racist abuse and discrimination he faced while playing for Yorkshire in 2008 and 2009. He added that he stayed silent at that time because he didn’t want to jeopardise his contract.

This comes days after England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq also spoke about facing similar treatment. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Rana Naved revealed that all players from Asia were victims of racist slurs from Yorkshire fans every time they failed to perform.

“I fully support what Azeem said and this has been the case with me as well. I never spoke about it because, as foreigners, we were temporary players and somehow I managed to accept the way it is. So I just focussed on playing cricket. I never wanted to jeopardise my contracts."

“There was systematic taunting and it’s tough to do much about it. To us as overseas players from Asia, when you are not able to perform, the home crowd which should be supporting us, started hooting and would taunt us with racist slurs like ‘Paki’,” the 42-year-old pacer said.

Their attitude wasn’t friendly towards Asians: Rana Naved

Australia v Pakistan ODI - Rana Naved in action.

Rana Naved further alleged that he faced discrimination from authorities at the Yorkshire club, as well. He said that their treatment and attitude towards Asians used to change whenever they didn't perform.

“If you are performing, then you get all the space but in case I am not taking wickets, the attitude suddenly started to change. They started to give us a tough time, giving me a smaller hotel room and there used to be a clear case of discrimination."

“They would do some strange things to annoy us and make you feel lesser. It wasn’t abusive but their attitude wasn’t friendly towards Asians. At times, I used to feel bad, but I decided to ignore it because I knew I was not going to live there permanently,” Rana Naved said.

Rana Naved, who has taken 133 wickets in 9 Tests, 74 ODIs and 4 T20Is, further added that the way Rafiq was released by the club was not right and that he had asked him to stay strong and take this as a challenge.