Former Australia captain criticizes Mohammed Siraj for 'disrespecting umpires' and calls for someone to have chat with him

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor recently pointed out Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj's habit of celebrating wickets without looking back at the umpires, a practice that has raised some eyebrows in the cricketing world. Siraj, who is currently embroiled in a controversy following a heated exchange with Australian batsman Travis Head during the Adelaide pink-ball Test, was fined 20 per cent of his match fees for his conduct. Both players also received one demerit point each for their actions.

In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Siraj has on two occasions assumed that an LBW decision would be given in his favour. In Adelaide, the pacer assumed that he had Labuschagne plumb in front, however, replays showed a big inside edge.

Mark Taylor has now said that this behaviour is disrespectful to the game and someone needs to have a chat with Siraj.

"My biggest concern with Mohammed is this desire to assume that umpires are going to give dismissals," Mark Taylor told Channel Nine.

“I don’t like him running down the pitch when he hits a guy on the pads, going past the batsman, assuming he’s going to be given out, without showing respect to the umpire and the game to at least have a look at the decision. I think Mohammed ... someone needs to have a chat with him about that," he added.

'Didn't like the send-off'

Mark Taylor also stated that he did not like the send-off that Mohammed Siraj gave to Travis Head after getting him out. The Indian pacer's signal to the dressing room raised quite a few eyebrows and in the end, the ICC stepped in by docking his match fees.

"I love the combative nature of Head and Siraj, but it has to be kept in check. Because the last thing we want to see in this game is that developing into a batsman maybe whacking a bowler," said Mark Taylor.

"They get close together in that sort of situation and you don’t want to see that. So the administrators need to keep a check on that, and so do the two captains. I didn’t like the send-off from Mohammed Siraj," he added.

Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head, however, seemed to have buried the hatchet after the end of the Adelaide Test as the duo were seen exchanging pleasantries after Australia's win.

Earlier, India captain Rohit Sharma had stated that Siraj strives on confrontation and it brings the best out in him.

"He likes to get into the battle. It gives him success. As a captain, it is my job to back that aggression. There is a fine line we don’t want to cross anything that can bring the dispute into the game, but having a word or two with the opposition is not a bad thing and he likes it. That’s what gets him going," said Rohit at the post-match press conference.

"In the past, we’ve seen so many cricketers who like that battle, and Siraj is definitely one of them. But there’s a thin line between getting aggressive and getting too aggressive and crossing that line. For a captain, it is also my responsibility to make sure we don’t cross the line. But a word or two there I don’t think makes a difference," he added.

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