Siraj just lost his 'Head'

Mohammed Siraj is an excitable character He is also hugely strong mentally extremely resilient with a big heart and a great attitude He will need all these traits for the rest of this long tour of AustraliaThe Australians like nothing more than installing one player from the opposition as public enemy No 1 The process might not be taken forward by the home team as such but they often light the fire and then sit back and watch it grow and grow Sirajrsquos sendoff of Travis Head on Saturday after the Australian had smashed 140 was reason enough to trigger outrage mdash from the batter himself from the media from the fans at the Adelaide Oval who were affronted that the local lad was at the receiving end of verbalsSiraj should have conducted himself with a little more grace mdash after all Head had just carted him for a four and a six mdash after messing up the lefthanderrsquos stumps but no bowler least of all a fast bowler likes a good ball disappearing into the stands Some of his pentup anger or disappointment or frustration came out and while it might not have made for great optics players are allowed to occasionally shed the automaton garb After all didnrsquot Head too react in kind provoked or notGriefstricken four years backFour years ago on his first tour of Australia Siraj was confronted with unspeakable tragedy Back home in Hyderabad his father succumbed to illness and the young man had a big decision to make mdash return to the city to be with his family or stay back and serve the team His mother urged him to fulfil his cricketing responsibilities a message echoed by head coach Ravi Shastri Alone with his thoughts and sorrow at a time when COVID restrictions prevented players from dropping into each otherrsquos rooms Siraj found a way to cope with the debilitating situation debuting in the second Test at the MCG and leading the bowling attack in the final game at the Gabba a match India entered with their fiveman bowling attack boasting a combined Test experience of four matchesAlso ReadSiraj stirs controversy with aggressive throw and nolook appeal WATCHHis fivefor in the second innings was responsible for Indiarsquos target not extending beyond 328 which was heroically chased down with Rishabh Pant hogging the glory and Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara weighing in handsomely Having come through the ultimate demanding time of his life unscathed Siraj will handle this mini crisis too He will be prepared for boos and barbs for the rest of the tour but he will have his band of brothers on his side with skipper Rohit Sharma in the forefrontSkipper Rohit backs pacerldquoHe likes to get into the battlerdquo Rohit remarked on Sunday ldquoIt gives him success and as a captain itrsquos my job to back that aggression Obviously there is a fine line that we donrsquot want to cross but having a word or two with the opposition is not a bad thing and he likes it thatrsquos what gets him going Siraj knows what he needs to do for the team His job is to take wickets he will do everything he can to try and get wicketsfor his teamrdquoAlso ReadMonkeygate scandal to Gavaskars MCG walkout 5 ugliest IndiaAustralia momentsIndiarsquos Siraj fined Aussie Head sanctioned tooIndian pacer Mohammed Siraj was fined 20 per cent of his match fee while Australian batter Travis Head was also ldquosanctionedrdquo by the ICC for indulging in a heated exchange of words during the justconcluded Test here ldquoSiraj was found guilty of breaching article 25 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnelrdquo the ICC said in a statement The cited rule relates to ldquousing language actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon dismissalrdquo The ICC said that Head too was ldquosanctionedrdquo for breaching Article 213 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel