Twitter lashes out at O'Keeffe after he makes fun of Cheteshwar Pujara's name on air

Just a couple of days after making fun of the Indian domestic cricket scene and taking a dig at Mayank Agarwal, Australian commentator Kerry O'Keeffe has made yet another controversial statement which has got social media riled up.

While on air with Shane Warne, who asked him about his trouble pronouncing Indian names like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, O'Keeffe responded to Warne by saying, "Why would you name your kid Cheteshwar, Jadeja,” which were followed by chuckles from his fellow commentators.

O'Keeffe is commentating for Fox Sports in Australia, whose feed is heard time and again in India as well.

In case you missed it, a few days ago, O'Keeffe took a dig at Mayank Agarwal and the Ranji Trophy by saying that Agarwal's domestic triple-century came against "Railways canteen staff". After facing a lot of flak for that comment, he apologised at the end of the day saying that he wasn't trying to undermine Agarwal's achievements and was instead making a tongue-in-cheek remark.

Social media platform Twitter did not spare him then and are not sparing him now as well after his remarks about Indian names. O'Keeffe is yet to respond to the flak he is receiving online.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted:

Ah the lovely Kerry O'Keefe is at it again. "Why would you name your kid Cheteshwar Jadeja" he says on air. Accompanied by cackling giggles, and said in a tone that drips with what increasingly sounds like casual racism.

— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) December 29, 2018

Why *wouldn't* you call your kid Chetheshwar Jadeja? Hey @SonyLIV you'll lose a paying customer of you don't stop streaming commentary from the utterly racist Kerry O'Keefe.

— maddurvade (@madkad_) December 29, 2018

The sad part about this is that KOK takes his commentary damn seriously. By most accounts, he is a top-class student of the game and diligently keeps notes. The global audience is not getting the best of him. As a long-time ABC listener, I hope we can soon see the best of him

— Sidvee (@sidvee) December 29, 2018

Has O'Keefe already decided that he is doing his final commentary stint? Coz this ain't comms. These are just bad, racist remarks. #AUSvIND

— Aishu Haridas (@imaishu_) December 29, 2018

Couldn't agree more. It's one thing to attempt to humour, however manufactured, but Kerry O'Keefe in particular has only made a fool of himself when talking about most things Indian through this series. Borderline racist, exposes his own limitations as commentator. #AUSvIND https://t.co/uxdg4mexYU

— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) December 29, 2018

Meanwhile, the Indian cricket team is being made to work hard for their victory as Pat Cummins' half-century saved Australia on Day 4 of the Test match. Australia are currently on 258-8 and require another 141 runs to win. While a victory for them seems highly unlikely, the possibility of rain tomorrow might hamper India's chances of a victory.

Earlier in the day, India declared their innings after putting on 106 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets. Mayank Agarwal was the top-scorer with 42 runs to his name.