NEWS
Follow UsWhen Travis Head dismissed Rishabh Pant on Day 5 of the Melbourne Test, it ended India’s hopes of securing a draw and go to Sydney with the series still levelled. It caused a wide celebration among the Australian cricketers, as Travis Head celebrated the dismissal in a weird manner, putting his middle-finger into his fist.
While it was largely forgotten on the day of the incident, former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu found it extremely hard to digest. Calling Head’s behaviour obnoxious, the cricketer-turned-politician slammed the Aussie for bringing the game into disrepute.
"Travis head’s obnoxious behaviour during the course of the Melbourne test doesn’t auger well for the gentleman’s game...... sets the worst possible example when there are kids, women, young & old watching the game....... this caustic conduct did not insult an individual but a nation of 1.5 billion Indians......stringent punishment that would serve a deterrent for the future generations needs to be slapped on him so that no one dares follow suit !!!" Sidhu wrote on X.
However, according to Australian commentators and skipper Pat Cummins, the inference was anything but that. Offering more clarity on the issue, Channel 7's James Brayshaw stated that it was a celebration of “putting digits on the ice”.
"Now, great people in the back have said after he took 4-10 within 17 balls in Sri Lanka in 2022, he was quoted as saying, 'I had to put the digit on ice'," Brayshaw said. "So that was the celebration. He said, 'I just got him, and I'm putting it back on ice'."
Later, Cummins added, “I can explain that. His finger is so hot that he is going to put it in a cup of ice. Yes, that’s what it is. That’s normally the running joke. Was it at the Gabba or somewhere, where he got a wicket as well and just got straight to the fridge, grabs a bucket of ice, puts his finger in and just walks in front of Lyno. Just like that, I think it's very funny. So that’s what it would have been, nothing else," Cummins told reporters.
