It could not be ascertained whether the Indian team management has officially lodged a complaint
Mohammed Siraj is one of the Indian players to have complained to match officials about being subjected to alleged racist abuse and foul language from sections of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the ongoing third Test against Australia.
ESPNcricinfo understands upto four Indian players were at the receiving end of the abuse, which was reported by the Indian team to the on-field umpires and the match referee at the end of third day’s play. The incident further dampened the mood in the visitors’ dressing room after India endured a difficult Saturday, after Australia ended a dominant day taking a 197-run lead with eight wickets in hand.
It could not be confirmed whether India has yet lodged an official written complaint with the match officials. Not much detail, too, has emerged about the alleged abuses, which is understood to have been happened more than once.
The fact a problem had arisen emerged at stumps when a group of senior India players, including captain Ajinkya Rahane, had a considerable conversation with the umpires Paul Wilson and Paul Reiffel before the discussions were taken into the dressing room.
It is understood that match referee David Boon visited the Indian dressing room and then there were further conversations visible between India officials and security staff outside. They were pointing towards an area at the Randwick End where Siraj had been stationed when fielding at fine leg. Siraj was then spoken to by officials shortly before the team left the ground.
Last year, New Zealand Cricket banned a fan from entering all their venues after being found guilty of racially abusing England fast bowler Jofra Archer in 2019. The 28-year-old fan had pleaded guilty of using insulting language against Archer.
With inputs from Andrew McGlashan in Sydney
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo