India pacer Mohammed Siraj was called a “Brown Dog” and “Big Monkey” in a series of racist slurs hurled by a group of Australian spectators, who were ejected from the Sydney Cricket Ground during the third Test on Sunday, a BCCI official has alleged. Siraj and his senior teammate Jasprit Bumrah were also subjected to racist slurs on Saturday, something that the Indian team management officially reported to ICC Match Referee David Boon.
“Siraj was referred to as ‘Brown Dog’ and ‘Big Monkey’ both of which are racist slurs. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of on-field umpires. They were constantly abusing Bumrah too,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Regular captain Virat Kohli on Sunday strongly condemned reported incidents of racial abuse during the third Test between Australia and India, saying it was sad to see what happened with his teammates at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Taking to Twitter, Kohli—who is in India for the birth of first child—said that strict action should be taken against the offenders to set things straight.
“Racial abuse is absolutely unacceptable. Having gone through many incidents of really pathetic things said on the boundary lines, this is the absolute peak of rowdy behaviour. It’s sad to see this happen on the field,” Kohli said. “The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders should set things straight for once,” he added.
The Indian team had apprised match referee David Boon of alleged racial abuse at the end of the third day’s play. Match and stadium officials were alert on the fourth day and as such play was halted and six people were evicted following another incident just before Tea during Australia’s second innings.
Sunday’s incident followed alleged racial abuse of Indian players—Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj—by a section of the SCG crowd, the complaint of which was officially made by the Indian team on Saturday.
Right-arm pacer Mohammad Shami also condemned the incidents and said it was disappointing to see his teammates becoming subject to racial abuse repeatedly in Sydney. “Disappointing to see that my teammates were subjected to racial abuse repeatedly in Sydney. There is no place for racism in today’s world and it is not acceptable. I hope that strict action is taken against those who misbehaved,” he tweeted.
VVS Laxman tweeted: “Very unfortunate to see what’s happening at SCG. There is no place for this rubbish. Never understood the need to yell abuse at players on a sporting field. If you’re not here to watch the game and can’t be respectful then please don’t come and spoil the atmosphere.”
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has strongly condemned reported incidents of racism during the ongoing third Test match between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In a statement, ICC said that it has also offered Cricket Australia all necessary support in investigating the incidents. “There is no place for discrimination in our sport and we are incredibly disappointed that a small minority of fans may think that this abhorrent behaviour is acceptable. We have a comprehensive anti-discrimination policy in place that members have to abide by and ensure is adhered to by fans and we welcome the action taken by ground authorities and Cricket Australia today,” said ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney.
“We will provide Cricket Australia and the relevant authorities with our full support in any ensuing investigation as we will not tolerate any racism in our sport.”
Under the ICC anti-discrimination policy, the Australian cricket board will now be required to investigate the issue and provide a report to the ICC on the incident and any action taken to ensure the issue has been dealt with appropriately.