ICC hand down punishments for Siraj, Head send-off antics

by Admin
December 10, 2024

Indian quick Mohammed Siraj has been whacked with a fine while Australia’s Travis Head escaped with a reprimand over the Adelaide Oval send-off that has lit a fire under the Border-Gavaskar series.

Siraj was docked 20 per cent of his match fees for initiating the ugly stoush with an animated send off after bowling the Australian star in Adelaide.

Head was reprimanded for responding to Siraj with a short verbal barrage he later confessed he regreted.

The pair were both found guilty of breaching cricket’s code of conduct in a hearing on Sunday night in front of cricket’s most experienced match referee, Ranjun Madugalle.

Both players were also hit with one demerit point for their disciplinary records.

Siraj took the wicket of the Adelaide Oval centurion with a searing in-swinging yorker that crashed into the stumps, ending Head’s phenomenal match-turning knock at 140 from 141.

The Indian quick was fired up after the wicket, reacting angrily when Head replied with “well bowled, mate”, responding with indistinguishable words and gesturing towards the dugout.

Head confirmed his words in a press conference post-play; however, Siraj stated the following day Head had lied and claimed he’d actually “abused” him after getting out.

The send-off left Siraj as public enemy No.1 for the parochial South Australian fans who booed the star and used chants of “you are a w******”.

However, the Indian quick found an unlikely ally in injured Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood who said Siraj had “good character”.

“I really enjoyed my time at RCB with him,” Hazlewood said.

“He’s probably the leader of the attack there, to a degree. He’s another one who’s a bit like Virat (Kohli), very passionate, goes with the flow of the game, gets the crowd up.

“(He has) bowled serious spells in the IPL in the last few years. He’s just a good character and it’s good to see sometimes.”

Former Indian cricketer and current commentator Ravi Shastri wrote a column for the Herald Sun suggesting India should embrace the chirp and feed off the rivalry.

Australia’s Travis Head, centre, reacts after he is bowled out by India’s Mohammed Siraj, right. Credit: James Elsby/AP

“When you are playing against the Aussies, there’s always chirp. It’s expected. There’s nothing wrong with it. I used to love it. I used to thrive on it. I always looked at it as something that will improve my vocabulary,” the 62-year-old wrote.

“When I was playing, my philosophy was to give it back as good as you get. And it’s exactly what I would tell my players when I was coaching India in Australia.

“Do not hold back one bit. Do not take even one backward step. It then became the team’s philosophy and everyone from Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant and every member of the squad was prepared to give it back to the Aussies.”