It appeared Kerry O’Keefe had learnt little from his “railway canteen staff” remark. The former leg-spinner-turned commentator again put his foot in the mouth when he made fun of some Indian names as he was finding it hard to pronounce them.
O’Keefe had apologised on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test after he took a dig at Mayank Agarwal’s first-class triple ton, undermining its value in the context of Australian attack and conditions. “Apparently, he got the triple ton against the Railways canteen staff,” he had quipped while on air for Fox Sports TV, the host broadcasters of the India-Australia series.
On Saturday, as he came on air along with Shane Warne, he struggled to pronounce Ravindra Jadeja’s second name. Warne made fun of the way O’Keefe was pronouncing the left-arm spinner’s name, and jokingly suggested that the veteran should have got it right by now as it was the fourth day of the Test. O’Keefe then came up with “Jajeja and Jadjeja” sounds.
Warne then went on to remind him that he couldn’t get Cheteshwar Pujara’s first name right either. To which O’Keefe said: “Cheteshwareshwar Jadeja,” mixing up two different names. And then went on to say something to the effect of why anyone would name someone by that name.
