Sunil Gavaskar reacted to the incident of Siraj dismissing Travis Head, and said that the pacer should have praised Head instead of showing aggression.
Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj dismissed Travis Head with an aggressive approach in the second session of Day 2’s game at the Adelaide oval. As Siraj dismissed Head, the Australian centurion gave a response to the bowler before walking off to the dressing room. When asked about this incident, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar felt that this was unnecessary.
Sunil Gavaskar even said that Siraj should have praised Travis for his fine game instead of showing aggression, which might have helped him earn the respect of the crowd.
“Unnecessary. Completely uncalled for. The guy has scored 140! If he had scored one or two, and you give him a send-off, that’s a completely different thing,” Sunil said.
“He is a local hero. By giving Head a send-off, Siraj became the villain for the crowd. Had he applauded his century, he would have been appreciated,” he added.
Former Australian opener Mathew Hayden was presented with the same question, where he stated that a bowler can be aggressive but one should know to be humble.
After this incident, even the umpires had a conversation with Siraj regarding his aggression. From that incident, the crowd started booing him when he came to bowl, or when the ball went to his side of field.
