The reason behind Siraj's larger fine compared to Travis Head after Adelaide row

Mohammed Siraj reacts after dismissal of Travis Head (Pic: AFP)

Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was fined 20 percent of his match fee, while Australian batsman Travis Head faced ICC sanctions following a heated verbal exchange during the day-night Test in Adelaide. Both players were found guilty of breaching the ICC's Code of Conduct after a disciplinary hearing on December 11.

The ICC confirmed, "Siraj has been penalised 20 percent of his match fee after being found guilty of breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel."

Why Siraj was handed a major punishment?

The violation pertains to actions or language that could provoke an aggressive response from a batsman following their dismissal.

Head was also sanctioned for breaching Article 2.13 of the same code, which addresses player abuse during an international match. However, Head avoided a financial penalty for this violation. Both players were handed one demerit point each, marking their first disciplinary infringement in the last 24 months.

"Both admitted their offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle," the ICC stated.

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What happened between Head and Siraj in Adelaide?

The confrontation occurred on the second day of the Test match when Head scored a blistering 140 runs off 141 balls before being dismissed by Siraj. The fast bowler celebrated his wicket aggressively, which led to a verbal exchange between the two. Indian players, including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah, intervened to calm Siraj, while the Adelaide crowd responded with boos.

Head later claimed that he had simply said "well bowled" to Siraj and expressed disappointment at the bowler's reaction. However, Siraj strongly disagreed with Head's account.

"I only celebrated, and he abused me, and you saw that on TV too. I didn't say anything to him," Siraj told broadcaster Star Sports. "What he said in the press conference wasn't true. It's a lie that he only said ‘well bowled' to me. It's clear for everyone to see that's not what he said."

Head later acknowledged his role in the incident, admitting, "There was no confrontation before that, but I felt like it probably went too far, and that's why I'm disappointed in my reaction."

Recapping the Adelaide Test, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they had to face the wrath of a moving, erratic pink ball and its mastermind, Mitchell Starc (6/48).

Except for a 69-run stand for the second wicket between KL Rahul (37 in 64 balls with six fours) and Shubman Gill (31 in 51 balls, with five fours) and a fighting 42 in 54 balls (three fours and three sixes) from Nitish Kumar Reddy, there was not much highlights from India who were skittled out for 180 runs. Skipper Cummins and Scott Boland also took two wickets.

In the first innings, a 67-run partnership between Nathan McSweeney (39 in 109 balls, with six fours) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 in 126 balls, with nine fours) for second wicket set the platform for Travis Head to impose his domination over Indian bowlers yet again with a counter-attacking 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, just when Aussies lost some regular wickets. His century took Australia to 337 runs and gave them a 157-run lead.

Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) and Mohammed Siraj (4/98) were top bowlers for India. Ravichandran and Nitish got a wicket each.

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In their second innings, India appeared even more toothless as the star-studded top-order and middle-order returned back to pavillion despite starts from Jaiswal (24 in 31 balls, with four boundaries), Gill (28 in 30 balls, with three fours) while KL Rahul (7) and Virat Kohli (11 in 21 balls with a four) failed to score well. India ended day two at 128/5.

On the third day, Pant also lost his wicket for 28 in 31 balls, with five fours. From there on, it was not looking back for the Aussies, who skittled out India for 175 runs in 36.5 overs. India led by just 18 runs, setting Aussies 19 runs to win.

Skipper Cummins (5/67) took a majestic five-wicket haul, his eighth as a captain. Boland took 3/51 while Starc took 2/60.

Set a target of 19 runs, Khawaja (10') and McSweeney (9') chased it down without breaking a sweat in 3.2 overs.