Former Australian captain Mark Taylor believes Mohammed Siraj has a tendency of celebrating wickets prematurely without waiting for the umpire’s decision and his senior India teammates should have a word with the pacer to address this as it is giving him a “bad look”.
Taylor said Siraj charges down the wicket towards his teammates, without checking the umpire’s decision when he thinks that he has got a batter out.
“I think with Mohammed Siraj, I’d like to see some of the Indian players have a chat with him, not so much what happened with Travis Head but how when he thinks he’s got a batter out he doesn’t turn around and actually acknowledge the umpire whether he’s given it out or not,” Taylor told Nine News.
“I think that’s the bad look for him and the game.”
“I love his exuberance, I love his competitive nature, I love the fact we’ve got a really good series going on but there is also the respect of the game that needs to be upheld. I think a little word from one of the senior players would go a long way.”
Siraj has become a topic of discussion after his brief showdown with Travis Head on day two of the Adelaide Test, which Australia won by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1.
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.
Both players were handed one demerit point each on their disciplinary records with Siraj also receiving a fine of 20 per cent of his match fee.
“I love the combative nature of Head and Siraj, but it has to be kept in check because the last thing we want to see in this game is that developing into a batsman maybe whacking a bowler.
“They get close together in that sort of situation and you don’t want to see that. So the administrators need to keep a check on that, and so do the two captains,” Taylor added.
Former Australia batter Simon Katich felt Siraj had a “brain fade” moment, which the Indian regretted later.
“It’s a shame that Siraj had a bit of a brain fade...There’s no need for that in the game,” Katich said SEN Radio.
“He would regret that Siraj... It was all spur of the moment and when he got Mitchell Starc out not long after that he was pretty sheepish.
“You don’t know what head space some of the players are in at times… he was probably disappointed with his performance and something like this can happen,” he added.
