Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane has opened up about the Sydney incident when the Indian bowlers, Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, faced racism from the crowd. The veteran batter revealed the conversation that he had with the umpires during the incident on India’s tour of Australia, 2020-21.
At the close of play on day three of the third test match, spectators abused Mohammed Siraj. The pacer took the issue to the stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who informed the match officials. However, the incident repeated on day four, when the crowd hurled racist abuses at Siraj. After which, Ajinkya Rahane spoke to the umpires and the match was halted for a few minutes.
During an event in Mumbai, to launch the trailer of Bandon Mein Tha Dum, a documentary series on the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 series, Ajinkya Rahane opened up about the incident. Revealing the conversation with the umpire he said:
“(We) insisted on getting the abusers out of the ground. When Siraj again came to me (on the fourth day, after being abused the day before), I told the umpires that (they) need to take action and we won’t play till then.”
After Mohammed Siraj was heckled and abused at the SCG, India captain Ajinkya Rahane insisted on getting the spectators ejected and only then carrying on with the Test
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What happened in Sydney was completely wrong: Ajinkya Rahane on the racism incident
The Indian cricketer, Ajinkya Rahane further revealed that umpires asked the Indian team to walk out of the field. They added that the team should not stall the match. However, the stand-in-skipper Rahane expressed that the team will play the match. He insisted that the abusers were asked to leave the ground.
“The umpires said that you can’t stall the game and can walk out if you want. We said that we are here to play and not sit in the dressing room. And insisted on getting the abusers out of the ground. It was important to support our colleague given the situation he had been through. What happened in Sydney was completely wrong,” said Ajinkya Rahane.
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