Hayden criticizes India for not congratulating Travis Head amidst Siraj row: 'A moment of humility is needed'

Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden has commented on the controversy, expressing his approval of fast bowlers targeting batters on the field. However, he did express disappointment in India's lack of sportsmanship for not congratulating Head on his game-changing innings.

“There is no need to take further action on that. It was an incident that neither party really enjoyed. I don't think the cricket public enjoys that sort of reaction. He has bowled a wonderful ball, let's not forget that. An innings that was absolutely superb, it was a really significant moment. The removal of Travis Head,” said Hayden while doing commentary for Star Sports on Day 3 of the pink-ball Test.

"He said 'well bowled'. I could lip-read. But I suppose, in the heat of the battle there is going always going to be misinterpretation. But the point is my opinion, all is fair in love and war when it comes to the actual removal of the batter.

‘Moment of humility’

Hayden opined that there should have been a moment of humility from the visitors' camp and they should have gone up to Head to say ‘Well played’.

“For someone who has played as magnificently as Travis Head did, there should be a moment of humility from the opposition side to say well played rather than the send-off. I don't expect that from the fast bowler, because he is pumped up full of gas and energy. But from the rest of the field, there should be a movement towards the batter, a decent clap, and a ‘well played’,” said Hayden.

On stumps on Day 2, Head had stated that he only said ‘well bowled’ to Siraj after the latter bowled him through a yorker. However, as per him, Siraj did not react as expected and there were some words exchanged.

Mohammed Siraj provided a completely different version of the story on Day 3, saying Head never said ‘well bowled’ and that he was lying.

While commentary on Day 3, both Hayden and Murali Vijay claimed that Travis Head did indeed say ‘well bowled’ to Siraj.

Speaking of the second Test, Australia registered an emphatic ten-wicket win after chasing down the target of 19 in just 3.2 overs.

India and Australia will now square off in the third Test at the Gabba, Brisbane. The match will be played from December 14-18.

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