NSW Police removing six Aussie fans from the crowd (L) after Indian cricketer Mohd. Siraj reported racial abuse to an on-duty umpire (R) during a 5-day Test match between India and Australia in Sydney, January 10, 2020. /AFP, Getty
Shame down under
"Brown dogs, leave. We don't like you." This is what two Indian cricketers allege they absorbed for two days during a five-day Test match between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground before they decided to take it no more and reported the matter to on-duty umpires.
Players Mohd. Siraj and Jaspreet Bumrah were fielding near the boundary line when they "were referred to as 'brown dogs' and 'brown monkeys' by a group of Aussie fans," a source close to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body of cricket in India, told news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).
The game was paused for 10 minutes and six "drunk" spectators were ejected from the stadium by New South Wales Police.
Six "drunk" fans were ejected from the Sydney Cricket Ground after allegations by two Indian cricketers of racial attacks in Sydney, Australia, January 10, 2020.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah lodged an official complaint with Cricket Australia, demanding "zero tolerance towards racism."
India's cricket superstar Virat Kohli, known for his aggression in the field, called "racial abuses absolutely unacceptable."
"The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders should set things straight for once," he said.
Cricket Australia, the country's governing body of cricket, has launched an investigation into the racism row. /Courtesy of Cricket Australia official website
Australia coach Justin Langer described the incident as a "shame."
"It's a shame to see (the series) getting marred by incidents like that we are hearing about today and last night," he said.
'Racism common in Australia'
Many former and current Indian players are sharing their experiences of racial abuse in the continent country, saying the problem of racism predates the latest episode and should not be allowed to outlast it.
"We have faced racism in Sydney earlier too. It needs to be dealt with iron fist," Indian off-skipper Ravichandran Ashwin said at a press conference in Sydney.
Australian opener David Warner issued an apology on his Instagram account. /Courtesy of @davidwarner31
Former Indian skipper Harbhajan Singh reacted on Twitter: "I personally have heard many things on the field while playing in Australia about Me My religion My color and much more… This isn't the first time the crowd is doing this nonsense… How do u stop them?"
In 2008, Australian player Andrew Symonds accused Singh of calling him "monkey." Consequently, he was banned for three Test matches but was eventually acquitted in the case.
Hinting at Australia's racist past, coach Langer revealed to the press that he had been reading a book on the country's history and watching some "good documentaries" in the last few months. "It's saddening, we are educating ourselves and it makes you feel very sad that people are subjected to racism," he said.
New, unimproved version?
Exhibiting "gentlemanly" comportment for nearly two years after three of their players, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith, were caught tampering with a ball using sandpaper hidden in their underpants in South Africa in 2018, the Aussie squad's rowdy behavior during the bilateral series, already overshadowed by allegations of racial attacks, has come under sharp criticism.
India's Virat Kohli and Australia's Tim Paine bump into each other during day four of the second match in the Test series between Australia and India in Perth, Australia, December 17, 2018. /Getty
Australia captain Tim Paine was fined 15 percent of his match fee for swearing at an umpire after a decision that didn't go in his team's favor. Nerves frayed on Monday when Paine called India's Ravichandran Ashwin "d***head" and said "nobody in his team liked him." He later apologized to Aussie fans saying, "Yesterday was a poor reflection of the team."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said, "Paine's language behind the stumps and sledging was like back to the old days!! Very very poor!!"
A screenshot of the video showing Steve Smith scuffing up crease markings with his spikes. /Courtesy of @ljsreddy7
An unimproved version of Smith, infamous for Sandpaper Gate, shocked and angered the cricket world. Former Australia captain, who was suspended for a year in 2018, was seen resorting to a cheap cheating trick in a video from the final day of the controversy-ridden Test match on Monday.
Smith, who was recently named the Men's Test Cricketer of the Decade by the International Cricket Council (ICC), used his spikes to erase the crease markings of rival team's Rishabh Pant. These markings are used as an indicator of where the stumps are behind the batsman.
Australia's Steve Smith breaks down at a press conference on Sandpaper Scandal in Sydney, Australia, March 29, 2018. /AP
Speaking with talkSport, England's former fast bowler Darren Gough called it "plain cheating."
"People say he's done nothing wrong – well he has! He's going onto the pitch ... and rubbing out the markers the batsman has put on to (signal) where he puts his bat," he slammed Smith.