Travis Head is no saint and Siraj is not a sinner!

Is Indian cricket not in the pink of health or is the decision to play a Pink Ball Test match in Adelaide a suicide mission, the BCCI can best answer. As Team India lost the second Test to the Aussies in the BGT Series on Sunday to level the series at 1-1, it is clear, media and social media will slam Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, ask them to retire or pack up. They will choose all adjectives. At the same time, cricket fans will turn nasty, they will slam Harshit Rana, a soft target. All this is expected, since the cricket fans are poor losers, not the cricketers. Add to it the wile posts from across the border, Pakistan have started trolling India.

All this can happen, but at least back your own cricketer, Mohd Siraj, who bowled his heart out on Saturday. Siraj has been dragged into a massive controversy over his alleged verbal volleys with Travis Head. And when the star batter spoke at the press conference on Saturday as if he was kind to Siraj, the whole narrative has changed. After Head was dismissed, he used foul language, so typical of the Aussies. It is believed he used expletives and even the ‘F bomb.’

On Sunday, a video from the official broadcaster went viral where Siraj has patiently explained to anchor Harbhajan Singh what transpired. Definitely, Head did not say ‘well bowled’ to Siraj. Worse, the Adelaide crowd, high on lager on Saturday, was rude with Siraj. Even when he bowled briefly on Sunday, they were booing him. This is the Aussie DNA, sledge, curse, get under the skin of rivals. And then, behave like saints.

It is ingrained, Aussies love sport and they also love to sledge and needle the rivals. They will go to any extent if you flip through the annals of cricket history. An Aussie will do anything in cricket and then put the blame on the rivals. The saint of Australian cricket, Ricky Ponting, who earns his hefty salaries from the IPL was the master of sledging. He did not even spare Sharad Pawar in 2006, when the Maratha strongman was ICC boss. Ponting wanted Pawar to move away from the photo frame, after the Aussies had won the Champions Trophy. It needed massive efforts from Ponting to say sorry to Pawar but the incident was replayed on social media again in 2023 during the ICC World Cup.

Rewind to the infamous “Monkeygate’ incident involving Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh in 2008. The same Harbhajan was seen interviewing Siraj and the bowler from Hyderabad made it clear he was never abusive. As a police officer in Hyderabad, Siraj commands respect. He also mentions “cricket is a gentleman’s game.” Yes, it is, when teams play fair and square. When the Aussies play cricket, they do not define what a ‘gentleman’ is. The Adelaide Test win for them will overshadow Siraj being vilified. No, Siraj is a fair cricketer and despite all the criticism, he has been honest. Sadly, the Indian commentators who wear ties and are dressed in blazers have not backed Siraj.

This is the difference between the Indians and the Aussies. The Aussies are racists, can go to any level if you visit their country. And to behave badly in the cricketing arena, whether in the field of play or the stands, defines how lousy they can get. Why is that Siraj does not have backing from his own people? Is it because he is a gentleman or is it because of lobbies which want a Mohd Shami to fly to Australia when he is not a 100 per cent fit even now? Can someone go through videos of how Siraj bowled with the Pink Ball and how he got his rewards.

It is heart breaking when a cricketer or any other Indian athlete has to be made to feel like a villain when he has actually done exceptionally well. Maybe, this incident will serve as a tonic for Siraj to get even more fired up for the remaining three Tests. The Aussies have tasted blood but do back India, they will bounce back with the red ball. If anyone has to be blamed, it is the BCCI, for agreeing to a Pink Ball Test. Simply not needed in the BGT Series in the future.