• Source:JND
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India's star bowler Mohammed Siraj reflected on the intense duel he had with Australia batter Travis Head on the second day of the second Test match at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Siraj denied Head's claim that he merely praised the Indian bowler with a "well-bowled" remark during their on-field encounter. The Indian pacer said Head's recounting of the exchanges was inaccurate, implying that the Australian batter said something more provocative to trigger the war of words.

Siraj cleared that the Indian team maintains a culture of respect for every player on the opposite side. He emphasized that his first celebration wasn't aggressive, but rather a result of being abused by Head.

According to Siraj, the provocation verbally given by Head made him react, leading to the kind of send-off that was witnessed on the field.

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"I was enjoying bowling to him. It was a good battle because he batted really well. When a batter hits you for a six on a good ball, it feels bad. That gave me an energy. After bowling him out, I celebrated. Then he abused me. You can see on TV as well. In the start, it was my celebration. I didn't say anything to him. In the press conference, he said wrong thing. He lied. Noway he said well-bowled. We respect everyone. I always respect everyone because cricket is a gentleman's game. Travis Head's actions were wrong. I did not feel good," Siraj told Star Sports before start of Day 2.

Siraj expressed tremendous belief in the Indian contingent's prowess of bouncing back and said the side has shown enough evidence in the past to turn loses into wins from unbelievable positions.

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"The Indian team knows how to make a comeback really well. We never give up. Whenever we fall, we keep the strength to get back up. We are always positive that we can score runs from any position and even win the contest. We will take the field with a positive mindset and whatever God has planned for us, we will get that," Siraj added.