‘He is a big boy, can talk for himself’: Pat Cummins downplays on-field clash between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head

New Delhi: Australian skipper Pat Cummins addressed the on-field altercation between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head during Day 2 of the Adelaide Test, saying that Head, being the vice-captain of the team, is mature enough to speak for himself. The verbal exchange between the two players became one of the key talking points of the match.

Travis Head starred with a scintillating 140 off 141 balls in the pink-ball Test as Australia fought back from their embarrassing loss in Perth to win the match by 10 wickets and level the five-match series at 1-1.

After being bowled by Mohammed Siraj, Travis Head was involved in a heated exchange with the Indian pacer, who gave him a fiery send-off. The scuffle quickly turned into the talk of the day’s play.

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

“It’s a big series so a lot is riding on it. The umpire stepped in pretty quickly and that was the end of it. To be honest, they can do whatever they want. I’m more worried about our boys. Like always, I thought our boys’ behaviour was excellent this week like it seems to be every week,” Cummins added.

Following the on-field spat, Travis Head stated at the end of the day’s play that he had merely said “well bowled” to Mohammed Siraj, which he claimed the bowler had misunderstood. However, on the morning of Day 3, Siraj refuted this claim, asserting that Head had not complimented him but had instead initiated the exchange with abusive remarks.