Mohammed Siraj’s problems does not seem to come to an end soon. The India fast bowler was involved in an altercation with Australia’s Travis Head during the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Adelaide recently.
During the match, he also threw a ball angrily at Australia’s batter Marnus Labuschagne after he backed away at the last moment due to some movement behind the sightscreen. Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was clearly not pleased with this behavior and made serious allegations against Siraj.
Kaif reckoned that Siraj had tarnished the image of the gentleman’s game which sets a wrong example for the upcoming cricketers. He also felt that the send-off to Travis Head wasn’t needed since the batter had already done the damage by that point.
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Mohammad Kaif slams Mohammed Siraj on his send-off to Travis Head
Speaking in a video on his social media account, Mohammad Kaif spoke about Mohammed Siraj’s altercation with Travis Head. The former India batter claimed that Siraj had a chance to remove Head earlier but he dropped a difficult catch at mid-on.
“Mohammed Siraj had a chance (to send Travis head back). Travis Head top-edged one. Siraj was standing at mid-on. He ran backwards, tried with both hands but missed the catch,” Kaif said.
“(Ravichandran) Ashwin applauded for the valiant effort but I believe, you create history by grabbing onto such difficult catches. The game changes if you take that catch and Head is out. Siraj had that chance to change the game as a fielder but that didn’t happen,” he added.
Mohammad Kaif further mentioned that there was no need for Siraj to give Head such a send-off since the latter had already smashed a magnificent century to put Australia in command. He argued that Siraj should have dismissed him earlier if he wanted to celebrate like that.
“When Travis Head smashed 140, hit you to every nook and corner of the ground, flicked you for a six, You placed a deep cover, long on, deep cover and yet he found the gap. He changed the gap by playing shots all around the park. And he did that on a difficult pitch where it wasn’t easy to score runs. After that, Siraj bowled him,” Kaif said.
“I understand the celebration, but I didn’t like the send-off. If you know he has a weakness, then get him out early. Get him nicking to the slips or dismiss him with a bouncer, then do your celebrations, but the guy has scored 140… there was no need for a send-off like that,” he added.
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Australia v India, BGT Report Card#CricketWithKaif11 #bgt2024 pic.twitter.com/aHFSUkTrUP
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 9, 2024
Mohammad Kaif accuses Mohammed Siraj of misbehaving
Mohammad Kaif didn’t stop here and even spoke about the incident when Siraj threw the ball to Marnus Labuschagne during the Adelaide Test. Kaif accused Siraj of misbehaving and setting a wrong example as a role model.
“(Marnus) Labuschagne was batting and there was some movement behind the sightscreen. He backed away but Siraj came and threw the ball near the stumps. That was also not the right way. He misbehaved. The kids watch you as a role model. You wouldn’t want to set the wrong example. You wouldn’t want to tarnish the image of the gentleman’s game,” Kaif noted.
Mohammed Siraj’s bowling figures in Adelaide
Mohammed Siraj returned with figures of 4-98 in 24.3 overs in the first innings of the Adelaide Test as he didn’t look at his best for most part of the match. Indian bowlers suffered as Australia piled on 337 runs on a difficult batting surface.
Siraj is going through a rough patch since the start of India’s home Test season. The fast bowlers is an important part of India’s Test line-up and even played a key role in the team’s historic win down under in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.