Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has given his verdict on the on-field altercation between India’s Mohammed Siraj and Australia’s Travis Head during the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.
In the 82nd over, after being hit for a six over deep square leg by Head, Siraj had cleaned up Head with a low full toss and gave a fiery send-off to the left-handed Australian batter. Siraj celebrated animatedly and appeared to exchange a few words and gestured Head towards the direction of the dressing room.
Both Siraj and Head were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct and were penalised by the global cricket body.
Ricky Ponting feels that it was an accidental incident and there wasn’t any malice.
“Looking back at it now, I think it was accidental the way that whole thing played out. I don’t think there was any malice meant at the start. Then the way it started and almost like the misinterpretation of what had actually gone on, I think led to how it ended,” Ponting told the ICC Review.
“I know Travis has gone and said that he said ‘well bowled’ at the start. Siraj obviously wasn’t happy about being hit over the deep backward square for six the ball before,” he added.
The former Australia captain related Siraj’s reaction on dismissing Head to situations wherein bowlers get under pressure.
“Rohit (Sharma) I’m sure would expect these fast bowlers to react like that. When they’re under the pressure and they’re getting hit and then they’ve just got a wicket you’d expect that they’d be up and about,” he said.
The 49-year-old also mentioned that the incident “wasn’t that big a deal”. and added that umpires are strict towards bowlers who give batters such send-offs.
“Look, it wasn’t that big a deal. I was in comms (commentary box) at the time. As soon as I saw the send-off, I actually got worried for Siraj. I know how the umpires react to those things. Umpires and referees don’t like seeing the send-off, pointed in the direction of the dressing room,” said Ponting.
However, Ponting refused to read much into the incident saying both Siraj and Head were able to clear the air later on in the Test.
“Both players have now had their say on what they thought happened. It was great to see them actually chatting,” he said.
“When Siraj came out to bat and Travis was at short leg, they were actually clarifying what had happened out there. They were talking amongst themselves as to what had actually happened,” he added.
