ICC may punish Mohammed Siraj, Travis Head for Adelaide showdown

According to reports, both are likely to be only fined or reprimanded instead of facing a suspension due to their good past record

Adelaide: Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj and Australian batter Travis Head are set to be “punished” by the ICC for their verbal altercation during the day-night Test here after both were reportedly found guilty of breaching the world body’s code of conduct.

Multiple reports, including by ‘Daily Telegraph’ and ‘Code Sports’, stated here that Siraj and Head were held guilty following a disciplinary hearing on Monday. However, both are likely to be only fined or reprimanded instead of facing a suspension due to their good past record.

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Head and Siraj had a brief showdown on day two of the match that Australia won by 10 wickets on Sunday. Head had struck a splendid 141-ball knock of 140 before being castled by Siraj, who went on to give him an aggressive send-off following an exchange of words. The Indian endured booes from the Adelaide crowd following the confrontation.

Head later claimed that he had merely said “well bowled” to Siraj and that he was disappointed at how the visiting bowler had responded. Siraj disputed that claim, asserting that Head had abused him.

“I only celebrated and he abused me and you saw that on TV too. I only celebrated at the start, I didn’t say anything to him,” Siraj said. “What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me. It’s there for everyone to see that that’s not what he said to me.” Head also acknowledged his role in the incident.

“There was no confrontation leading up to him and I felt like it was probably, yeah, a little bit far at the time, and that’s why I am disappointed in the reaction that I gave back,” he said in a post-play press conference.