Watch: Imran Tahir 'verbally and racially abused' at Pink ODI
Cricket South Africa is standing by Imran Tahir after he confronted a group of fans who allegedly racially abused him during the match against India at Wanderers on Saturday night.
Cricket South Africa has released an official statement following the incident and an investigation is currently being conducted.
Reports have been doing the rounds that Tahir assaulted a child who allegedly called him 'useless', but to date, no footage of this apparent incident has surfaced.
In the video that's been doing the rounds, Tahir can be seen arguing with a group of spectators in the stands. At one point during the incident, the talented spinner asked the adults if the child had any manners. The parents can then be seen swearing at Tahir when he tried to defend himself against the attack.
Check out the incident that occurred after the fourth Momentum One-Day International (ODI) below:
Our sports presenter, Sky Tshabalala, said that whatever went down must have been serious, as Tahir is not the type of person to lose his cool so easily.
"This is not right. It should never go down the racist way. I know Imran Tahir, he is one of the calmest guys I've ever met so for him to react the way he did, it couldn't have just been verbal abuse. There was definitely something seriously racist said. My view is to ban people from the stadium that make racist comments," says Sky.
The National Team’s Media Manager, Lerato Malekutu, said Cricket South Africa is aware of the video footage which features their bowler.
“Imran Tahir was verbally and racially abused by an unknown man during the fourth One-Day International (ODI) against India at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Saturday. Tahir reported the incident to the stadium security, and was subsequently accompanied by two security personnel to identify and to have the man ejected from the stadium. Tahir made no physical contact with the offender or any of the children in the vicinity. The incident is under investigation with the CSA and stadium security teams,” explained Malekutu.
Patriotic cricket supporters stand in support of Tahir as the Proteas play their next match at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
Darren and Sky had a very detailed discussion about the incident on air. Take a listen to the podcast below: