Cummins defends team behaviour after Siraj-Head spat

ADELAIDE: Pat Cummins felt his intervention was not required in the Travis Head-Mohammed Siraj send-off row since the Australia vice-captain is a “big boy” who can talk for himself as the skipper hailed his team’s behaviour in the ongoing series against India.

After Head was cleaned up by Siraj, the two were seen exchanging words as the batter later suggested he had only said “well bowled”.

Following Head’s claim that Siraj’s send-off was uncalled for, and that he had only praised the India pacer’s delivery after being bowled, Siraj swiftly denied the accusation, calling it a “lie”.

“Travis Head is vice-captain of the team, so he’s a big boy. He can talk for himself,” Cummins said during the post-match media interaction.

Siraj denied the Head claim and said, “I didn’t say anything to him. In the press conference, he said the wrong thing. He lied. No way he said ‘well-bowled’.”

Addressing the matter, Cummins further said: “As a general rule, you normally let the boys be themselves. If you ever need to step in to intervene as captain, I would, but as I said, for our group, I’ve never really felt like I’ve needed to do that.”

Acknowledging the high stakes of the series with packed crowds every day, Cummins said: “It’s a big series so there’s a lot riding on it. The umpire stepped in pretty quickly, and that was the end of it.”

The 295-run defeat at the hands of Jasprit Bumrah-led India in the opening Test drew heavy criticism from the media, and Cummins said it only motivated his team further.

“I was pretty pumped up. It probably felt like some big wickets in the context of the match. Especially, you know, with the pink ball, it feels like the bar is just a bit smaller. So, maybe, yeah, just really excited more so than usual.”

“Great week, great to level the series. We were back to our best. That’s the kind of team I remember, and how we want to play our cricket. So, it’s been really satisfying.”