Ponting says ‘he got worried for Siraj’ after his fiery send-off to Head in Adelaide
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the incident between Travis Head and Mohammed Siraj during the second Border-Gavaskar Test in Adelaide was all down to a “misinterpretation” and said it was “accidental” the way the whole thing was played.
The incident took place in the 82nd over of Australia’s first innings, when Siraj castled Head, on 140, with a crushing yorker and gave him a fiery send-off and aggressively gestured to walk back towards the direction of the stands. To this, Head replied back to the pacer before walking off to a standing ovation from his home crowd.
Afterwards, the Adelaide crowd made constant boos whenever Siraj was fielding in the deep or came on to bowl, to express their displeasure over how he behaved with Head.
“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 said in the latest episode of the ICC Review.
While Siraj’s reaction was swift and fiery, Ponting believes it was an expected response from a fast bowler under pressure, who had taken only one wicket at that point.
“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 said.
“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.”
However, when Siraj exchanged words back with Head following the dismissal, Ponting said he was worried for the Indian pacer. “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,” the Aussie great added.
However, the duo were seen having a friendly chat when Siraj came to bat during the second innings of the Test on Sunday, seemingly clearing the issue. Ponting was all praise for the duo for the swift manner in which they brought the matter to a close.
“Both players have now had their say on what they thought happened. It was great to see them actually chatting. 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 said.
Both Siraj and Head, however, had one demerit point added to their disciplinary code for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct, with the Indian pacer also being fined a 20 percent penalty on his match fee.
