An Indo-Australian fan named Prateik Kelkar has denied reports of him abusing Mohammed Siraj of any racial discrimination in the third and the fourth day of the SCG Test. The racial abuse against Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah was the biggest talking point of the last two day’s play of the Test match. India ultimately salvaged a draw and is still alive in the series. They have also reached Brisbane on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the Indo-Australian fan said that crowds did not say anything racial against the player. One of them said ‘ Welcome to Sydney Siraj’ after he stood near the boundary completing his over.
“[Siraj] was pissed off because he got hit for two sixes the previous over. He came to field on the boundary. He was copping it a bit and then they said: ‘Welcome to Sydney, Siraj’. Next thing we knew they were getting kicked out,” he added.
Prateik Kelkar was amongst the six people who were asked to leave the stadium premises, as the fan claimed that he was evicted because he stood up for others.
Also Read: David Warner Apologizes To Mohammed Siraj For Facing Racist Slurs In Sydney
Mohammed Siraj Was Not Racially Abused: Indo-Australian Fan
Kelkar further said that Mohammed Siraj may have been racially abused buy it was not from the section of fans who were asked to leave the stadium. He further said that being an Indian himself he understands what racial abuse means and that Siraj was unfortunate to be at the receiving end of the same.
“I am an Indian. I have been racially abused before in Australia and I can tell you that it wasn’t [racial abuse]. As you can tell from my accent, if there was something racist going on, I would have heard it and done something about it. Maybe he heard it somewhere else, sure, but it just wasn’t from the guys behind us. The problem is he can’t prove what he heard, we can’t prove that he didn’t hear it,” he said.
Cricket Australia has in the meantime started its investigation into Siraj’s case Meanwhile, the ICC has pledged to fully support the findings of the investigation as well.
Also Read: ‘I Didn’t See That Coming At All’, Brad Haddin Lauds Team India’s Fightback At SCG
