Indian Bowler Mohammed Siraj Racially Abused During Sydney Test

Sydney: The Indian cricket team lodged a formal complaint with the umpires on Saturday after fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was racially abused by a few Australian supporters during the ongoing Test match between India and Australia.

A few drunk supporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground hurled racial jibes at Siraj with taunts that were “seriously insulting”, India Today reported.

The incident happened during the final session of Day 3 when Siraj was fielding at fine leg near the boundary ropes.

The incident was brought to the notice of the senior players including the stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane who reported this to the on-field umpires as well as the match referee.

Notably, another racism row had rocked an India-Australia series in Sydney 13 years ago.

Andrew Symonds had created a big stir when he accused Harbhajan Singh of racially abusing him and calling him a monkey. This created tensions between the two teams on and off the field.

The two boards, other players, former players, media and even the governments got involved. Harbhajan was handed a three-Test ban, but he was eventually cleared of the charge and the ban was overturned.

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