Team India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj broke his silence on his fiery send-off to Travis Head on day two of the second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. With Head claiming that he only said 'well bowled' to Siraj, the Hyderabad-born fast bowler has accused the southpaw of lying.
The incident occurred in the 81st over of the innings as Head had carted the right-arm speedster for a four and a six. However, Siraj came back to rearrange Head's stumps, causing him to be fired up. With Head uttering some words, a furious Siraj gestured him to return to the sheds. After the day's play, the South Australian revealed that all he told Siraj was 'well bowled'.
Speaking to Harbhajan Singh on Star Sports, Siraj lauded Head's innings and felt bowlers are inevitably fired up after being hit for six. However, the 30-year-old disagreed with what Head and asserted that no Indian cricketer mean any disrespect to Australia.
"Mujhe toh bowling karne mein maza aa raha tha, bahut accha battle chal raha tha. Kyunki woh bahut hee acchi batting kiya. But end of the day, bowler acchi ball pe chakka maarta hai, aapke andar alag hee junoon aa jaata hai. Uske baat bowled karke maine jo celebration kiya hai, unhone jo abuse kiya mujhe. Aapko tv pe bhi dikh raha hai jo mujhe bola hai. Maine usko kuch bola nahin hai, unhone jo PC mein bola hai, galat baat hai, jhoot baat boli hai ki 'well bowled' bola. Aur bola tum humko aisa dekhte ho. Hum hamesha har player ko respect karte hain."
(I enjoyed bowling a lot here. They were batting really well and when they hit the good balls for boundaries, you can't help. Whatever you saw on TV, I didn't say anything in disrespect. It was just part of my celebration (Talking about the celebration after Head's wicket). Whatever he said in the press conference, was a lie. He never said 'well bowled'. We respect each other and cricket is a gentleman's game. It didn't feel right to me (talking about the stuff that Head spoke about Siraj's celebration in PC)
Pat Cummins' fifer carries Australia to the doorstep of victory
Meanwhile, Pat Cummins led Australia' another fantastic bowling effort to bowl India out for 175 on day three of the Test. Mitchell Starc dismissed Rishabh Pant in the first over of the day, while Pat Cummins' fiery short balls got the better of Ravichandran Ashwin, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana. Scott Boland got rid of Siraj to end the innings.
With Australia set 19 to level the series, the hosts should see themselves home easily.
