The Indian national cricket team faced boos from the Australian crowd during the Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In one instance, when the crowd started booing during a Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj responded by signaling that he could not hear them.
Virat Kohli faced boos as he bowled to the boundary in Australia's first innings after his shoulder tussle with Sam Konstas. The boos continued as Kohli returned to the dressing room after his dismissal in the first innings. Kohli turned to confront the individual but was calmed down by an MCG official.
Watch: Mohammed Siraj encourages the MCG crowd to make the boos louder
In the 54th over of Australia's second innings, the crowd started booing. Mohammed Siraj quickly waved that he couldn't hear them and encouraged the boos to get louder. The incident quickly caught the attention of cricket fans on social media.
Watch the incident right here:
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Mohammed Siraj became a villain in Australia following a heated exchange with Australian batsman Travis Head during the pink-ball Test match in Adelaide. The altercation took place after he fired Head. After the wicket, Siraj gave Head a fiery delivery, putting the Indian fast bowler in the limelight.
Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah dismantle Australia's batting order on day 4
After dominating the first two days, Australia experienced a sudden collapse, losing 4 wickets for just 11 runs as Bumrah took four wickets in a stunning 22-ball spell, including his 200th wicket of testing. This jeopardized Australia's control of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, Marnus Labuschagne and captain Pat Cummins rallied with a 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket, slightly shifting the momentum back in Australia's favour. Cummins played a crucial role in stabilizing the innings after India's quicks Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj came through the middle order.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal had a tough day on the field, missing three crucial chances, including one each to Labuschagne (46) and Cummins (21). At the end of the 56th over, Australia were 7-148, leading by 253 runs, with Cummins (28*) and Mitchell Starc (0*) unbeaten.
It's just too much workload – Mark Waugh
Former selector Mark Waugh said Australia could consider replacing Mitchell Marsh with Beau Webster. This comes after Marsh's poor performance with the bat and his bowling of just seven overs on day three.
“For the last two summers the selectors have pretty much played the same attack throughout … it's too much of a workload,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“If it's a spinning pitch, he might only play two quicks, Beau Webster and two spinners. You never know what you're going to get at SCG. They will probably strengthen their squad with as many players as they can and then have a look at the pitch and see how the conditions are.”