‘He’s just a good character’ – Josh Hazlewood praises Mohammed Siraj’s demeanour amid controversial altercation with Travis Head (Photo Source: 10 News First/Santanu Banik/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Australia speedster Josh Hazlewood has called Mohammed Siraj a “good character” as the Hyderabad-born and Travis Head prepare to be charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following their verbal spat in Adelaide. Notably, the incident happened during the pink-ball Test in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25).
The ICC is expected to take action after Head admitted swearing at Siraj on Saturday, December 7, following the left-handed batter’s match-winning knock of 140 off 141 balls in the first innings. Siraj gave the South Australian an animated send-off after castling Head, and the hometown hero responded with some offensive words.
The Indian pacer became a villain at the Adelaide Oval following the clash, with the Aussie fans booing him for the rest of the Test match. He had already infuriated them on Friday when he aggressively threw a ball at Marnus Labuschagne. For the unversed, the Australian batter had pulled away from a delivery upon being distracted by a man, who was holding a tower of beer cups, who had walked into his eyeline.
Meanwhile, Josh Hazlewood, who missed the second Test with a side strain, has shared the dressing room with Siraj in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The former praised Siraj’s demeanour and also his bowling ability. Notably, his remarks have come after Head and Siraj had a verbal altercation on Day 2 of the Adelaide Test.
“I really enjoyed my time at RCB with him. He’s probably the leader of the attack there, to a degree. He’s another one who’s a bit like Virat (Kohli), very passionate, goes with the flow of the game, gets the crowd up,” Hazlewood was quoted as saying by Yahoo Sports.
“(He has) bowled serious spells in the IPL in the last few years. He’s just a good character and it’s good to see sometimes,” he added.
Siraj accused Head of lying about their verbal altercation in Adelaide Test
Before play on Sunday when Australia secured a 10-wicket win to restore parity in the series at 1-1, Mohammed Siraj accused Head of lying about what happened on the field. Head had earlier said that he was only praising Siraj for the way he bowled.
“What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me,” Siraj told Indian broadcaster Star Sports in comments translated from Hindi.
Also Read: Travis Head gives clarification on sledging incident with Siraj
“It’s there for everyone to see that that’s not what he said to me. I respect everybody because cricket is a gentleman’s game, but what he did wasn’t right. I didn’t like it at all,” he added.
Meanwhile, Head revisited the incident after orchestrating Australia’s phenomenal victory at the iconic venue. He clarified that he did swear against Siraj. But also added that all was well between them after they had a chat about the incident when Siraj came out to bat in the second innings of Team India.
“It was fine. He said: ‘Why did you swear?’ I sort of said, ‘Look, I didn’t at first … (but) I definitely swore at you the second time round’. (I’m) sweet with it. He came out and just said (it was) a little bit of misunderstanding,” Head stated.
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