Cricket: 'Calling somebody sir is sign of admiration and respect' - Eoin Morgan dismisses alleged racism against Indians

England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan has rubbished the allegations of racism against him over historic tweets where he allegedly mocked Indian fans by using the word ‘sir’. England’s World Cup-winning captain said that using the word ‘sir’ is a sign of admiration and respect.

The development comes after England pacer Ollie Robinson was suspended from international cricket by ECB for historic tweets deemed as racist and sexist. Even the likes of James Anderson and Jos Buttler, besides Morgan have come under the scanner after past tweets resurfaced on social media.

In a tweet, Morgan tagged Buttler saying ‘Sir you’re my favourite batsman’. The use of ‘sir’ was said to be a sign of mocking towards Indian fans.

“I don’t really reflect on it a lot," Morgan was quoted as saying by Mirror.co.uk. “I find it, if I call somebody sir on social media, or anywhere around the world, it’s a sign of admiration and respect."

The allegations against Morgan even put his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders under the spotlight with CEO Venky Mysore saying there would be ‘zero tolerance’ against any sort of discrimination.

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“We don’t know enough about it to comment at this time. Let’s wait for the process to be completed to get all the facts before we jump to any conclusions. Just to reiterate, the Knight Riders organisation has ‘zero tolerance’ for any sort of discrimination," KKR CEO Venky Mysore had told Cricbuzz.

Earlier, Robinson had publicly apologised for his past tweets. “On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public,” Robinson said in a statement. “I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.

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“I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I would like to unreservedly apologise to anyone I have offended, my teammates and the game as a whole in what has been a day of action and awareness in combatting discrimination from our sport."