Amid widespread criticism regarding his temperament, India pacer Mohammed Siraj has received the support of his former coach Ravi Shastri. Siraj was involved in a verbal spat with Australia batter Travis Head during the second Test in Adelaide. Siraj came through under the coaching of Shastri, and the latter has now stated that he would want his fast bowlers to have that fire within them. Shastri, who created an aggressive approach for Team India alongside then-captain Virat Kohli, suggested that the philosophy should be to ‘give it back as good as you get’.

During the second Test, Travis Head had slammed Siraj and the rest of the Indian bowling en route to a game-changing 140. When Siraj finally got Head out, what followed was a verbal spat between the two, with Siraj dishing out a send-off.

The pacer was fined 20 percent of his match fees by the ICC, with both players given a demerit point.

However, Shastri has provided support for Siraj.

“I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a fast bowler after he’d been hit for a six. Siraj was letting off some steam. That’s the fast bowler’s temperament. You want it to be like that. When I was playing, my philosophy was to give it back as good as you get. And it’s exactly what I would tell my players when I was coaching India in Australia. Do not hold back one bit,” wrote Shastri in his column for CODE Sports.

“Do not take even one backward step. It then became the team’s philosophy and everyone from Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant and every member of the squad was prepared to give it back to the Aussies,” Shastri added.

Shastri also expressed confidence that Siraj and Head are “mature individuals” who would not let the moment escalate into a bigger controversy.