Arshdeep Singh Defended By Punjab Kings Star For Racist Remark Against Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma and Arshdeep Singh [Source: AFP]

A major controversy erupted during the IPL 2026 season last month. Ahead of a match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians at the HPCA Cricket Stadium in Dharamshala, PBKS fast bowler Arshdeep Singh made a racist remark against Tilak Varma at the team hotel. 

While Arshdeep was heavily criticized for his behavior by fans on social media, both he and Tilak have not addressed the controversy since then. Fellow Punjab Kings cricketer Prabhsimran Singh, however, has brushed the incident aside by describing it as a “fun-shun” moment between two national teammates.

Prabhsimran Singh defends Arshdeep Singh for Tilak Varma remark

While speaking on InsideSport, Punjab Kings star Prabhsimran Singh has defended IPL teammate Arshdeep Singh despite his subtle racist remark against Tilak Varma. 

Prabhsimran maintained that both Arshdeep and Tilak are really good friends on and off the field, thus implying that the issue was blown out of proportion by fans and media. 

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He said “It’s a bit of fun-shun. They are really good friends. They can do anything with each other. It also depends on us as to how we take personal things. The two have played so much cricket together, so people should leave the matter to them.”

What happened between Arshdeep Singh and Tilak Varma?

Back on May 13 at the team hotel in Dharamshala, Arshdeep Singh was found having a conversation with Mumbai Indians star and national teammate Tilak Varma. The speedster jokingly taunted Varma over his skin color, saying “Oye Andhere, aaj sunscreen lagaya ki nahi?”.

Even though Varma laughed it off on camera, several Indian cricket fans took Arshdeep to the cleaners on social media for his racist take online. 

The following day, Tilak orchestrated a dramatic heist for the Mumbai Indians franchise against hosts Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium, cracking 75* runs off just 33 balls as the visitors secured a thrilling six-wicket win in a chase of 201. 

Arshdeep also did his part for the Punjab Kings in a high-scoring game, conceding just 29 runs from four overs at an economy of 7.25, in an evening where over 400 runs were aggregated between the two sides. 

Prabhsimran Singh, Tilak struggle in Sri Lanka

Interestingly, Prabhsimran Singh is currently in Sri Lanka as part of the India A team under the leadership of Tilak Varma. Both cricketers are struggling to notch up match-winning runs, as the India A team recently suffered a shock Super Over defeat against the hosts to fall to the brink of a certain elimination before the tri-series final.

While Tilak has registered two half-centuries in three games of the series so far, it took him 97 deliveries to score his 60 runs against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla last week. Under his leadership, the India A team now needs to defeat Afghanistan A in their final league game in a bid to qualify for the final. 

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