Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head are demerit points for bust-up in second Test match between India and Australia and the Indian fast bowler is also penalised with a fine of 20% of his match fee, the International Cricket Council said Monday.
They were thrown together after Siraj took Australia opener Head for two in the pink ball Test at Adelaide which Australia defeated Australia by 10 wickets to tie the five-match series 1-1 at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
“Siraj has been fined 20% of his match fee after he was found guilty of violating article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct…,” said the ICC in a statement.
“Head was also sanctioned for breaching Article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel with regard to the “abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match”
“Siraj and Head had one demerit point each on their disciplinary records, this was their first offence in last 24 months.
Both players had consented to the penalties, the ICC reported. Head knocked a winning 140 and was caught by Siraj who had hit the batsman for a six in the previous over.
A buoyant Siraj left after being sacked and the two were seen talking before Head left.
Player of the match Head later claimed he’d facetiously said “well bowled” to Siraj, but the Indian batsman debunked it. Head and Siraj hugged at the end of the match, however, and both players tried to downplay it.
The squads have also had scandals in the past, like the ‘monkeygate’ affair in which the India spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with racially abusing the Australian Andrew Symonds in 2008 during a Sydney test.
Being with the same team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been good for relationships between the players though and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood was quite soft on his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru counterpart Siraj.
I had a great time at RCB with him,” Hazlewood said. “He’s another one, like Virat (Kohli), he is really energetic, he follows the game, he gets the fans moving.
‘Just a guy that’s nice and I like it from time to time.