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ADELAIDE: Is this the point where the India-Australia series takes an ugly turn? The send-off Mohammed Siraj gave Travis Head after dismissing him on the second day seems to have galvanized both the Aussie media and public, especially after Head’s assertion that he had merely said “well bowled” to the India pacer before the ugly exchange of words, some of which was caught on the broadcast.
Siraj’s animated celebration while pointing Head to the Aussie dressing room seems to have made him the object of a witch-hunt here, with boos ringing out at the ground whenever he is in action and talking heads on social media and TV screens seemingly obsessed with it.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Ravi Shastri, while commentating on Fox Sports, wryly noted how “Siraj is the crowd favourite”, while both captains were inundated with queries on the issue, putting Australia’s fine win in the shade.
Siraj tried to clear the air but added more fuel to the fire, asserting that Head had lied during his media interaction on Saturday. “It was a battle going on with Head and he batted really well,” Siraj told former India spinner Harbhajan Singh — himself in the centre of the ‘Monkeygate’ affair involving Andrew Symonds in 2008 — during an interaction on Star Sports Hindi.
Rohit Sharma press conference after loss in Adelaide Test vs Australia
“When you get hit for six off a good ball, it fires you up. When I bowled him, I just celebrated, and he abused me. You saw that on TV too. I didn’t say anything to him at the start. What he said in the press conference was a lie, that he said ‘well bowled’ to me.”
The scale of the controversy blew up in the faces of skippers Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins after the game and both stood by their players. “I was standing at slip, I don’t know exactly what was said,” Rohit said, “When India and Australia play, these things happen. He (Siraj) got the wicket and celebrated it. There were a few words exchanged. Siraj likes to get into the battle, it gives him success. It’s my job to back that aggression but there is a fine line. One or two words here and there don’t make a huge difference.”
Cummins harped on similar lines but said he wouldn’t try to stop the players from fronting for themselves. “You let the boys be themselves. Travis is the vice captain, so he’s a big boy. He can talk for himself. It’s heated. It’s a big series. There’s a lot riding on it. I think the umpire stepped in pretty quickly. They (India) can do what they want. I’m more worried about our boys,” Cummins said.
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