The altercation between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head was the biggest talking point of the pink-ball Test match between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
Head smashed 140 off 141 balls before getting knocked over by Siraj’s yorker. The right-arm quick celebrated the wicket animatedly and gave a fiery send-off to the left-hander, who wasn’t one bit pleased and exchanged a few words with the bowler.
The incident led to Siraj being docked 20 per cent of his match fees for breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon dismissal."
On the other hand, Head has been sanctioned for breaching Article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to the “abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match.”
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has now shared his thoughts on the entire controversy, asking Rohit Sharma’s team to continue fighting fire with fire.
“I’m sure Siraj and Head are mature individuals who will deal with it and the dust would have settled already,” Shastri wrote in a column for CODE Sports.
“If anything, I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a fast bowler after he’d been hit for a six. Siraj was letting off some steam. That’s the fast bowler’s temperament. You want it to be like that. 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," he added.
Even though Siraj has come under scrutiny for his on-field demeanour in Adelaide, Ravi Shastri does not want Team India to take a backward step.
Shastri, who was the coach of the Indian team that won the Test series in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21, also revealed how the likes of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were always ready to give it back in the previous tours.
“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," he said.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma moved down to No. 6 for the pink-ball Test, allowing KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to continue opening. However, the decision backfired as he managed to score only nine runs across the two innings.
Shastri advised Rohit to go back to his opening position in the upcoming third Test, starting December 14 at the Gabba.
“What I’d like to see in Brisbane is for the captain to return to the top of the order. Opening the batting is where Rohit belongs,” Shastri said.
“They might have tried having him in the middle in Adelaide but they have to immediately go back on that plan and instead push KL Rahul down the order. You need Rohit setting the tempo at the top. That’s his best position," he added.
