Watch: 'Fan' abuses Arshdeep Singh while boarding team bus as security officers go missing

Dubai. Until Tuesday night. As a group of journalists, we generally leave the Dubai International Cricket Stadium more or less at the same time, when Team India's bus leaves. The players come out of the gate adjacent to the media box. There are usually 75-100 people cheering the players as they board the bus. On Tuesday night, after India's defeat to Sri Lanka, there were around 20.

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Arshdeep was among the last few to board the bus. Like his teammates, he too wore a sombre look on his face. Suddenly, one man yelled, "Oye Sardar." Arshdeep paused for a bit and then started walking off before the man yelled again in Punjabi. The mention of 'Sardar' and 'dropped catch' was particularly jarring. The literal translation of what the man said was on the lines of "are you hiding your face because of the dropped catch". It may not read as offensive but the tone of his rant screamed discrimination. A furious Arshdeep, who had one foot inside the bus, stopped in his tracks. His anger was apparent and the glare looked like it would have cut through the windshield of the bus. For the 10-15 seconds that he stood on the door of the bus, you knew Arshdeep was seething inside.

Another Indian journalist, who was recording the Indian team members boarding the team bus, stopped his recording and rebuked the person concerned. The security personnel present there couldn't understand the language and