Team India racially abused at SCG 'again'

Sydney, Jan 11: It happened again. With several sportspersons standing up against the racism, some disgraceful scenes were witnessed at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It turned sour on the fourth day of the ongoing Sydney Test after play was halted due to alleged racial abuse towards India fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.

 

 

The Indian cricket team, however, did not tolerate it and ensured that they took a stand against it. Initially, the allegations surfaced on Saturday, when Indian pacers Bumrah and Siraj said racist comments were directed at them as they fielded on the boundary line.

 

 

 

Besides, Siraj also pointed out in the crowd where the words were said. Eventually, as Bumrah was about to bowl the 86th over of Australia’s second innings, Siraj went up toward stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, and umpires Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson.

 

 

The 26-year-old complained of the racial abuse while he was fielding in front of the Brewongle and Clive Churchill stands - the same area of the ground from where the racist chants were made on Saturday. While all this was happening, all the players - including the Australian batsmen Tim Paine and Cameron Green stood together at the middle of the ground. The umpires took note of it and stated all of this to authorities. The play was halted. It only resumed after police evicted six people from the ground for their actions.

 

 

Cricket Australia issued a statement on Sunday apologizing to the Indian team. "As series hosts, we unreservedly apologize to our friends in the Indian cricket team and assure them we will prosecute the matter to its fullest extent," said Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security, in a press release affirming zero tolerance to racism.

 

 

It also said it would "take the strongest measures"."Once those responsible are identified, CA will take the strongest measures possible under our Anti-Harassment Code, including lengthy bans, further sanctions, and referral to NSW (New South Wales) Police," he added.

 

The International Cricket Council, too, condemned the incident."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 and has offered Cricket Australia all necessary support in investigating the incidents," the apex body said in a statement.

 

Captain Virat Kohli said, "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 behavior. It’s sad to see this happen on the field," Kohli tweeted. Team India was at the receiving end of racist chants when India toured Australia in 2018. Even then, fans were ejected from the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test.

 

 

Spinner R Ashwin said that players had experienced "this in the past, especially from people in the lower tier" of the stand at Sydney. "They have been quite nasty and hurling abuses as well. But this is the time they have gone one step ahead and used racial abuses… It is definitely not acceptable in this day and age. Sometimes this roots back to upbringing. This must be dealt with an iron fist and (officials must) make sure this doesn’t happen again," Ashwin said.

 

Australia head coach Justin Langer also condemned the act saying it is "upsetting and disappointing" in the series which has been played in great spirit so far. "It is upsetting and disappointing, anyone who knows me, I've said for years. People think they can come to a sporting event whether it is cricket or other and pay their money and think they can abuse or say whatever they like. Really sad to see it happen in Australia where there has been a lot of talks over the last couple of years," Langer said in the virtual press conference after the conclusion of play on day four.

 

"It is sad to see that happened. I think our series so far has been played in such a great spirit, it's been incredible cricket, it's been brilliant to watch on the field and it's been really good spirits between both teams. It is a shame to see it is getting mad by the incidents that we hearing about today and last night," he added.