Michael Clarke calls for Mohammed Siraj sanction over second incident not related to Travis Head

Former Test captain Michael Clarke has called for Mohammed Siraj to be sanctioned by the ICC - but not for his altercation with Travis Head. Clarke sees it as a far bigger problem that Siraj keeps disrespecting umpires by not bothering to turn around and appeal for lbw decisions.

Siraj and Head were at the centre of ugly scenes during the second Test in Adelaide after Siraj stared down Head and told him where to go after dismissing him for 140. Both Siraj and Head are set to be charged by the ICC after the Aussie swore at Siraj during the incident.

But according to Clarke, the ICC also needs to come down hard on Siraj for the way he's been appealing for lbw (or not appealing). For the second Test in a row, the Indian bowler failed to turn around and appeal when he thought an Australian batter was out lbw.

He did it while bowling to Head in the first Test in Perth, and again in Adelaide while facing Marnus Labuschagne. On both occasions Siraj was certain he had the Aussie batter out lbw and ran down the wicket with his arms in the air celebrating, not bothering to turn around and appeal.

But on both occasions the umpire gave it not out. It was particularly embarrassing in Adelaide because Labuschagne clearly got an inside-edge, and India captain Rohit Sharma didn't even use DRS because he knew it wasn't out.

Speaking on Monday morning, Clarke declared the ICC should sanction Siraj for disrespecting the umpires - Richard Kettleborough in Perth and Richard Illingworth in Adelaide. “Siraj should be fined for keeping on appealing for lbw and not asking the umpire,” Clarke said on Sky Sports radio. “He hits the batter on the pads and just runs down like they’re out.

"I’m surprised the ICC haven’t fined him because I remember when I was playing, you get fined every time. Brett Lee was the worst at it and they told him, ‘I you don’t turn around and ask the umpire, you’re going to be fined’. I’m more worried about that from Siraj than him and Travis Head."

Stuart Clark says Mohammed Siraj should 'show respect'

And former Test bowler Stuart Clark agreed. “That, I think, is far worse than what happened in the [Head] incident,” he said. “And that came up and got discussed numerous times, that you can’t do that.

"The umpires are quite clear, and so are the rules, that you have to turn around and show respect to be asking the umpire whether it’s out. It didn’t look great, he ran down the wicket, carried on, ‘that’s out’ … then when they showed the replay, he’d inside-edged it on to his pad. If I was a match referee or an official, I’d be sort of saying, ‘Mate, that’s got to stop, because that doesn’t look great and that puts so much pressure on the umpire, in an inappropriate way’.”

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Siraj also had nasty incident with Marnus Labuschagne

Siraj endured a tumultuous Test in Adelaide, culminating in his ugly run-in with Head. But he also copped backlash for pegging the ball at the stumps after Labuschagne pulled away late in his run-up.

Labuschagne pulled away at the last second because a fan ran behind the bowler's arm carrying a massive beer snake. It left an unknowing Siraj furious, and the Indian quick threw the ball at the stumps in anger. Siraj copped it from fans on social media in the aftermath, with some labelling his actions 'pathetic' and 'childish'.