‘I was called a black monkey’ – Mohammed Siraj recalls racism incident from Australia tour

India pacer Mohammed Siraj recalled the racist abuse he faced during India's tour to Australia in 2021. The pacer opened up about the incident, revealing that he was called a "black monkey" by some Australian spectators in the stadium.

Siraj said he did not take it seriously on the first day, but on the second such instance on the following day, he decided to go to raise his concern to the umpires.

"When I was called a black monkey and things like that in Australia, I ignored them on the first day, thinking the people were drunk. But when it happened on the second day, I decided to go up to the umpires and complain about racism and I conveyed it to Ajju bhai (Ajinkya Rahane) who went to the umpires,” Siraj said while speaking on RCB Season 2 Podcast.

Ajinkya Rahane was leading the team in the absence of Virat Kohli, who returned home after the first Test in Adelaide for personal reasons. After Siraj discussed the issue with him, Rahane took up the matter with the on-field umpires. As a result, the spectators who made racist remarks were removed from the venue.

"So, the umpires told him you are free to leave the ground till the matter is settled. But Ajju bhai said: 'We respect cricket and why should we leave the ground? But remove those people who are abusive and why should we leave the ground? We then focused on cricket as people would keep saying all these things," Siraj added.

Siraj has been one of the best pacers India currently have. He was part of the Indian squad when they won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21. Siraj was also a part of the team that defeated Australia at home recently, but could not make much impact as he picked just one wicket in the first Test in Nagpur. He went wicketless in the second and third Test before being rested for the fourth one.

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