Minutes after the end of four day's play of the third Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Cricket Australia (CA) on Sunday revealed that a parallel investigation has been launched into the widely reported racism incident which has rocked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
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For the second successive day, Indian players were subjected to racism at the iconic venue. On Saturday, the BCCI officially lodged a complaint with the ICC match officials. And on Sunday, another incident forced the play to stop for a while at the conclusion of the 86th over of Australia’s second innings.
India players huddled in the centre after Mohammed Siraj, standing at the square leg boundary, complained of abuse after being hit for two consecutive sixes by Cameron Green in his over. And subsequently, the play was halted for several minutes.
Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity and Security, said the matter would be investigated to the fullest extent.
“The abuse of cricketers by crowd members is not acceptable,” Carroll said. “We thank the Indian team for their vigilance in reporting today’s incident, which we are now in the process of investigating.
“A number of spectators were interviewed by NSW Police and subsequently removed from the SCG on Sunday afternoon. While we await the outcome of the investigation by NSW Police, CA has launched its own inquiry into the matter.
“It is most regrettable that an otherwise excellent Test match contested in tremendous spirit by two friendly rivals has been tarnished by the actions of a small number of spectators over the past two days.
“As hosts, we once again apologise to the Indian team.”
