“He’s just a good character” – Josh Hazlewood lauds Mohammed Siraj’s demeanour amid controversial altercation with Travis Head

In the wake of their verbal altercation in Adelaide, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood has referred to Mohammed Siraj as having “good character” as he and Travis Head are ready to face charges from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The occurrence occurred during the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy’s pink-ball Test, which is noteworthy (BGT 2024-25).

Following Siraj’s game-winning 140 off 141 balls in the first innings on Saturday, December 7, Head acknowledged cursing at the left-handed batsman, prompting the ICC to take action. After casting Head, Siraj delivered an impassioned farewell to the South Australian, to which the hometown hero retorted with a few derogatory remarks.

After the match, the Indian pacer was jeered by the Australian supporters for the remainder of the Test match at the Adelaide Oval, turning him into a villain. When he hurled a ball at Marnus Labuschagne with aggression on Friday, he had already angered them. For those who are not familiar, the Australian batter had ducked from a delivery after being sidetracked by a man who had entered his line of sight while carrying a stack of beer cups.

Josh Hazlewood, who missed the second Test due to a side strain, shares the dressing room with Siraj while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The former gave Siraj high marks for both his bowling prowess and his manner. Notably, his comments follow a verbal fight between Head and Siraj on Day 2 of the Adelaide Test.

“My time with him at RCB was quite enjoyable. In a way, he’s probably the attack’s leader there. “He’s another one that’s kind of like Virat (Kohli), really passionate, goes with the flow of the game, and gets the crowd going,” Yahoo Sports reported Hazlewood to have said.

“He has bowled in the IPL for extended periods of time in recent years. He’s simply a kind guy, and it’s nice to see him periodically,” he continued.

Regarding their verbal fight during the Adelaide Test, Mohammed Siraj accused Head of lying.

Prior to Sunday’s match, in which Australia won by 10 wickets to even the series at 1-1, Mohammed Siraj accused Head of fabricating events on the pitch. Earlier, Head claimed that he was merely complimenting Siraj’s bowling technique.

“What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me,” Siraj said in Hindi-translated remarks to Indian channel Star Sports.

“It’s there so everyone can see that he didn’t say that to me. He did something wrong, but I respect everyone since cricket is a gentleman’s game. “I didn’t enjoy it at all,” he continued.

Head, meanwhile, went back to the incident after masterminding Australia’s incredible triumph at the legendary stadium. To be clear, he did swear against Siraj. However, after talking about the event when Siraj batted for Team India in the second innings, he stated that everything was good between them.

“Everything was alright. “Why did you swear?” he asked. “Look, I didn’t at first,” I said in a way. It’s true that I cursed at you the second time. It’s sweet of me. Head said, “He came out and just said (it was) a little bit of misunderstanding.”