It's Disgusting: Nathan Lyon Slams Racial Abuse On Mohammed Siraj

Australia’s premier off-spinner, Nathan Lyon has condemned the racial abuses which Mohammed Siraj and the rest of the Indian team faced from the spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.

The Pink Test in Sydney, which India valiantly managed to draw, was marred with ugly controversies. Post stumps on Day 3, the Indian team management lodged a complaint after two of their pacers – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj – received racial slurs from the crowd behind them.

Matters got even disappointing, when on the fourth day Mohammed Siraj, ahead of the tea break, asked his captain, Ajinkya Rahane to halt the game as the pacer was being constantly subjected to racists comments by some people behind him while fielding at the fine leg boundary.

The play was halted for about ten minutes as the NSW ground policemen evicted about half a dozen people from the stadium. Mohammed Siraj, playing just his second Test, was applauded by all for bravely taking a stand against the racial comments. Later, reputed journalist Boria Majumdar revealed that the youngster was called a ‘brown dog’ by a section of fans in the crowd.

There is no room for abuse of any type: Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon strongly supports Siraj and says that there is no room for racial or any kind of abuse on the cricket field. The 33-year-old reveals that he has also faced abuses from the crowd during his overseas tours.

“There’s no room for any racial (sledges) or any abuse in any type. People think they are being funny, but it can effect people in different ways. For me, cricket is a sport for all and there is no room for it at all. I think it’s quite disgusting, to be honest. Yes, I’ve been on the other end of it copping abuse, whether that’s England, New Zealand, South Africa, or wherever it may be. But there’s no room for it,” Nathan Lyon told the reporters.

Lyon, who is having a lacklustre series so far with just 6 wickets in 3 matches, believes that Siraj did the right thing by calling out the people who made the insinuating remarks – the police at ground removed those spectators from the stadium.

“But if the time is right to call in match officials (you do it). We’ve got a lot of security around the ground these days and if there is anyone doing it then they can be removed, as there’s absolutely no place for it,” the off-spinner added.

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