Despite extensive criticism of his attitude, India bowler Mohammed Siraj has gained support from his former coach Ravi Shastri. Siraj verbally spat with Australia’s Travis Head during the second Test in Adelaide. Shastri coached Siraj to success, and the latter has now indicated that he wants his fast bowlers to have the same passion within them. Shastri, who developed an aggressive strategy for Team India with then-captain Virat Kohli, proposed that the motto be ‘give it back as good as you got’.
Travis Head smashed Siraj and the rest of India’s bowlers in the second Test, scoring a game-changing 140. When Siraj finally got Head out, the two had a verbal confrontation, with Siraj delivering a send-off.
The ICC penalized the pacemaker 20% of his match earnings, and both players received one demerit point. On the other hand, Shastri has come out in support of Siraj.
“I wouldn’t have expected anything less from a fast bowler who had been hammered for six. Siraj was letting out some steam. This is the fast bowler’s temperament. You want it to be like that. When I started playing, my mindset was to give as good as I got.
And that is exactly what I would tell my players when I was coaching India in Australia. “Don’t hold anything back,” Shastri said in his CODE Sports blog.
“Do not take any backward steps. It subsequently became the team’s philosophy, and everyone on the squad, from Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant, was ready to hand it back to the Aussies,” Shastri said. Shastri further expressed confidence that Siraj and Head are “mature individuals” who will not let the situation escalate into a larger problem.