NEW DELHI: Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers weighed in on the Mohammed Siraj-Travis Head verbal spat during the Adelaide Test, stating while such on-field exchanges are part of the game, it is important to maintain respect and ensure they don’t escalate beyond acceptable limits.
The confrontation began when Siraj cleaned up Head with an exceptional yorker on the first day of the pink-ball Test. Head asserted he had simply acknowledged the delivery with ‘well bowled’, but Siraj’s enthusiastic celebration and subsequent dismissal of Head’s statement as a ‘lie’ heightened the friction.
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The atmosphere remained tense into the following day’s play, with Adelaide spectators showing vocal support for their hometown player, Head, while expressing disapproval through booing at the venue.
“Maybe questionable giving Head a send-off after he scored a match-winning hundred. But that is Siraj for you. His enthusiasm, his excitement, and his drive to win games of cricket,” de Villiers expressed his views on the matter while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“I love a bit of banter in a cricket game. What was said out there, I don’t really care unless it went over the line. So what is over the line? I think that is personal stuff, religious stuff, racial stuff. Otherwise, I am happy to overlook it,” de Villiers added.
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After Australia clinched a 10-wicket victory, Siraj and Head, who played a match-winning knock of 140 runs off 141 balls in the first innings, buried the hatchet with a warm hug.
The five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is currently tied at 1-1, with both teams set to resume their rivalry on Saturday at the Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test.
