Team India has lodged an official complaint after the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground racially abused pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj on the second and third day of the ongoing Pink Test between India and Australia.
While the matter was brought up with the International Cricket Council (ICC) match officials and the security officers at the SCG immediately after the game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is furious with the turn of events. A BCCI official said, “The tour has surely turned sour and the last thing you expect in a civilised society is racial abuse. The ICC and Cricket Australia need to be very responsive to this as the possible alternatives are not very pleasant for cricket, especially during the present circumstances. The Sydney Test has now become an acid test for CA interim CEO Nick Hockley and we are in complete solidarity with our boys. Racial abuse is unacceptable.”
Sources aware of developments in the Indian team said that the bowlers initially brought the matter up with stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane before the team went into a huddle with the coaching staff led by Ravi Shastri and decided that this sort of behaviour should not and will not be ignored.
The relationship between the two teams has taken a turn in recent times with Queensland’s Health Minister Ros Bates’ comments regarding quarantine guidelines.
She had put out the statement on social media, “If the Indian cricket team wants to spit the dummy and disregard quarantine guidelines in Brisbane for the fourth Test, then they shouldn’t come.”
