'Punish the fellow, he should pay for it' - Farokh Engineer criticises Ollie Robinson for his controversial tweets

Farokh Engineer, the former Indian cricketer, has termed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s support for Ollie Robinson as “absolute rubbish”. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), recently, suspended the 27-year-old all-rounder for his controversial historic tweets in 2012 and 2013, mocking the Muslim community and people of Asian ethnicity.

Robinson made his Test debut at the Lord’s against New Zealand where he scored 42 runs and picked up seven wickets. However, the performance was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding him. Engineer, who also played for Lancashire, didn’t mince any words in saying that Robinson should pay the price for his “error of judgement”.

It is a real shame when you say he was a youngster: Farokh Engineer

“I am reading in the papers about Boris Johnson. I think it is absolute rubbish for a prime minister to lend his name to such a statement. Punish the fellow (Robinson). I think the ECB has done absolutely the right thing by suspending him. He has committed an error of judgement; he should pay for it. It will be a deterrent,” Engineer told to the Indian Express.

“It is a real shame when you say he was a youngster who was 18 (when he tweeted). It is an age at which an individual is responsible. If they (cricketers) can get away with it, then things would be worse,” he stated.

“People will make all sorts of comments against us (Asians). It has to be nipped in the bud. To talk about Asians like that in such a context or make other comments reflects on the upbringing,” Engineer added.

During the Lord’s Test, Robinson had issued an apology, saying that he regrets dropping the tweets and he’s neither racist nor sexist. After the match ended in a draw, Joe Root, the English Test skipper, also called Robinson’s actions “unacceptable”. Chris Silverwood, the Brits’ head coach, was also disappointed with the incident.

The occurrence surrounding Robinson has led to the ECB investigating an unnamed players’ tweet. Eoin Morgan, the England ODI and T20I skipper, and Jos Buttler have also found themselves in trouble after tweets, where they were mocking Indians, came to the fore.