Cricketer Abhinav Mukund slams racial abuse on social media

New Delhi : Indian cricketer Abhinav Mukund has slammed racial abuse on social media, saying he has himself been at the receiving end of insults and ridicule for his skin tone. In a statement posted on his Twitter page, Mukund, who featured in the first Test against Sri Lanka in the ongoing series and scored 81 in the second innings, expressed his disappointment at some of messages sent to him targeting his skin tone. The left-handed Tamil Nadu batsman, however, made it clear that his statement had nothing to do with any member of the Indian cricket team.“I am writing today not to garner sympathy or attention but with the hope to change the mindset of people on an issue I feel strongly about. I have been travelling a lot within and outside our country since I was 15. Ever since I was young, people’s obsession with my skin colour has always been a mystery to me,” his statement, posted on Wednesday night, read.“Anyone who follows cricket would understand the obvious. I have played and trained day in and day out in the sun and not even once have I regretted the fact that I have tanned or lost a couple of shades.