Siraj, still grieving the death of his father a little over a month ago, was called a “Brown Dog” and “Big Monkey” from the SCG stands, BCCI sources said. The 26-year-old, on his maiden tour Down Under, followed the protocol and promptly went up to his skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the on-field umpires, who halted play for 10 minutes and called in the security, which evicted six people.

This was after the bowler and his senior pace partner Jasprit Bumrah were abused by a drunk man on Saturday. The BCCI has already complained about it to ICC match referee David Boon. “As series hosts, we unreservedly apologise to our friends in the Indian cricket team and assure them we will prosecute the matter to its fullest extent,” said Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity and Security, in a press release affirming zero tolerance to racism. “Once those responsible are identified, CA will take the strongest measures possible under our Anti-Harassment Code,” he added.

Skipper Virat Kohli tweeted, “Racial abuse is absolutely unacceptable. Having gone through many incidents of really pathetic things said on the boundary lines, this is the absolute peak of rowdy behaviour. It’s sad to see this happen on the field.”