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NEW DELHI: Captain Pat Cummins delivered a stellar performance, claiming five wickets as Australia bowled India out for 175 in their second innings, leaving themselves a modest target of 19 runs to win the Adelaide Test. Australia won the match by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1.
While Australia’s dominance in the pink-ball Test was the headline, the heated exchange between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head also drew significant attention.
Cummins capped off his five-wicket haul by dismissing Siraj. The Indian pacer attempted a big shot off a length delivery, only to sky it towards short midwicket. Interestingly, it was Head who ran back from midwicket to complete a well-judged catch, sending Siraj packing.
After taking Siraj’s catch, Head celebrated in style.
India had won the opening Test in Perth by 295 runs.
WATCH:
The controversy involving Siraj and Head began on Day 2 when a viral video captured a heated exchange following Head’s dismissal.
Head later addressed the incident in a press briefing, suggesting that Siraj’s animated send-off was unnecessary and claiming he had merely complimented the delivery.
However, Siraj refuted Head’s account before the start of play on Day 3, categorically dismissing his explanation as untrue.
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“It was a great battle, and he batted well,” Siraj said in a conversation with Harbhajan Singh. “When I got him bowled, I celebrated, but he abused me. What he said in the press conference—that he only said ‘well bowled’—wasn’t true. We respect all players, but what he did wasn’t right.”
Australia’s commanding performance, led by Cummins, overshadowed the controversy as they closed in on a series-leveling victory.
In a conversation with former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, Siraj said: “It was a great battle going on (with Head) and he batted really well. When you get hit for a six on a good ball, it fires you up differently. And when I got him bowled, I only celebrated and he abused me and you saw that on TV too.”
“I only celebrated at the start, I didn’t say anything to him. What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me. It’s there for everyone to see that that’s not what he said to me. We respect everyone, it’s not like we disrespect other players. I respect everybody because cricket is a gentleman’s game, but what he did wasn’t right. I didn’t like it at all,” he added.
Later, Head, who scored 140 runs off 141 balls, including 17 fours and 4 sixes, taking the team’s total to 377, admitted that things had escalated a bit too far.
“I actually jokingly said ‘well bowled’, then he pointed me in the sheds and I had my reaction as well. I don’t want to give it too much airtime. I feel like the way I play the game I would like a better reaction. I was surprised at the reaction in terms of the situation of the game and the lead-up. There was no confrontation leading up to it,” he said.
“It probably [went] a little bit far, that’s why I’m disappointed in the reaction I gave back, but I’m also going to stand up for myself. Like to think in our team we wouldn’t do that. [It’s] not the way I’d like to play the game and feel like my team-mates are the same. If I see that, I probably call it out, which I did,” he concluded.
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