‘That’s a lie’: Send-off drama heats up as Siraj hits back over Head comments
By Daniel Brettig and Tom Decent
Adelaide:Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj raised the temperature of the Border-Gavaskar bout to boiling point by accusing Travis Head of lying about their exchange on day two in Adelaide, before the Australian cooled the waters after the home side’s 10-wicket victory.
The players are expected to face a hearing before International Cricket Council match referee Ranjan Madugalle for their conduct, although neither would face penalties greater than a reprimand or fine. Head played down the exchange after the match, with the two players sharing a hug.
“He said, ‘Why’d you swear?’ [and] I sort of said, ‘Look, I didn’t at first … [but] I definitely swore at you the second time round’,” Head told the ABC. “I probably could have laughed it off and walked off and enjoyed myself. He just said it was a misunderstanding as well, and there was no issues for me. We move on. I’m sweet. It is what it is.”
In a Hindi interview with Harbhajan Singh on Indian broadcaster Star, Siraj said that Head used “abusive words” after his dismissal and claimed he did not hear the Australian first say “well bowled”.
“I was enjoying bowling to him, it was a good battle. He batted really well. At the end of the day, as a bowler, when he hits you for six off your good balls, something stirs in the blood, inside you – the passion rises,” Siraj told Star in a translation provided by ESPNcricinfo.
“My celebration after bowling him – I was just celebrating, but his abusive reaction can be seen on television. If you see, at the start I didn’t say a word – I was just celebrating only initially.
“Later, at the press conference, he said wrong things – he claimed he said, ‘Well bowled’ to me. But that’s a lie. There was no ‘Well bowled’ that I could see. And he talked about respect. I mean, we respect everyone. We don’t disrespect [anyone]. I always have respected people as cricket is a gentleman’s game. But what he did wasn’t right – I didn’t like it at all.”
Head’s account of the exchange, which appeared to be backed up by broadcast footage, was that he first said “well bowled” jokingly to Siraj before “biting back” with sharper words after the bowler indicated the way to the dressing room.
“I actually jokingly said, ‘Well bowled’. Then when he pointed me [towards] the sheds, I had my reaction as well,” Head told reporters. “I feel like the way I play the game, I would like a better reaction. I was surprised at the reaction ... there was no confrontation leading up to it.
“I felt like it was probably, yeah, a little bit far at the time, and that’s why I’m disappointed in the reaction that I gave back. But I’m also going to stand up for myself. I’d like to think in our team that we wouldn’t do that.
“I feel like if my teammates did the same ... in those circumstances I’d probably call it out, which I did.”
Head indicated that it wasn’t the first time in the series. Replays show that pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah and star batsman Virat Kohli got in Head’s face after he was dismissed for 89 in the second innings in Perth.
Head was later seen in a long conversation with Kohli at the end of the Test match; the pair has known each other for a long time and played in the Indian Premier League together.
“I’ve had conversations with guys this series about that [send-offs],” Head said. “I feel like you can play hard and play fair, but obviously when you’re out, can’t do much about it.
“I think the relationship [between the teams] is really, really good. I think that’s why I’m disappointed with the couple of reactions I’ve got when I’ve been dismissed, that’s all. I’d rather [someone] try and tear shreds off me and then give it to me. But I feel like the lead-up is out of nowhere.”
After the game, India’s captain Rohit Sharma said that Siraj was aware there was a line he should not cross.
“He likes to get into the battle. It gives him success,” Rohit said. “As a captain, it is my job to back that aggression. There is a fine line [and] we don’t want to cross anything that can bring dispute into the game, but having a word or two with the opposition is not a bad thing, and he likes it.
“That’s what gets him going. In the past, we’ve seen so many cricketers who like that battle, and Siraj is definitely one of them. But there’s a thin line between getting aggressive and getting too aggressive and crossing that line. For a captain, it is also my responsibility to make sure we don’t cross the line. But a word or two there I don’t think makes a difference.”
Rohit also explained why India had banned open training sessions for the rest of the tour.
“Net sessions are very private and this was the first time ever I saw so many people during the nets,” he said after as many as 5000 spectators watched the session on Tuesday. “And when you’re training, when you’re practising, there is a lot of conversation that happens and those conversations are very private.
“We don’t want anyone to hear those conversations, [it’s] as simple as that, because there’s a lot of talking that happens and the crowds are very close to that practice facility. There are five days of Test cricket so they can come and watch us there.”
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