The few steps that India’s Test debutant, Mohammed Siraj, took towards his team at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday might have helped cricket take a giant leap. Fielding on the boundary line and at the receiving end of words that he and teammate Jasprit Bumrah had reported as offensive the previous day, Siraj refused to turn a deaf ear to any more of the intimidating background noise from an unruly section of the crowd. He ran in from the fence and reported his annoyance to the team leadership, which was ready to put its foot down and stop play. The moment of reckoning for racist behaviour in cricket had arrived, and Australia which for long has blurred lines between banter and abuse, were forced to respond unequivocally and firmly.
A line has been drawn, a precedent has been set. With Cricket Australia and match referee David Boon playing a proactive role in locating the miscreants and taking prompt action, cricket suddenly has an SOP in place to deal with an unsporting situation in the stands. It is now expected that from Gabba to Wankhede and Johannesburg to Trent Bridge, players will duly report all such offensive slurs thrown at them to match officials, who will be expected to do what’s needed. This should also trigger other major changes. With increased awareness sweeping the cricketing universe, it will not be too much to expect players and their on-field banter to not dabble in racist insults either. Match officials and the board should also enforce muting of their players’ free flowing unparliamentary language which targets opponents. It must no longer be passed off as passions running high.
