“This has been a continuous thing in Sydney, fans here tend to get nasty” - Ravichandran Ashwin on racial abuse

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday claimed that cricket fans at Sydney tend to get nasty as this was not the first time Indian players have experienced unruly behaviour at the venue.

Ravichandran Ashwin further termed the crowd behaviour in the ongoing SCG Test as ‘unacceptable’ after racial slurs were hurled at Indian players for the second day in a row.

The Indian team had filed an official complaint on Saturday after pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj were racially abused by the crowd. However, Siraj faced crowd trouble on Sunday, and, as a result, a few spectators had to be evicted from the stadium eventually.

We have launched an investigation in parallel with NSW Police following a crowd incident at the SCG today. Full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/D7Qu3SenHo

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 10, 2021

Speaking at a virtual press conference at the end of the day’s play, Ravichandran Ashwin expressed surprise at the crowd's behaviour despite the complaint being filed.

"Adelaide and Melbourne were not as bad, but like I said this has been a continuous thing in Sydney, I have dealt with it in the past, the fans here tend to get nasty, I do not know why they do it, unless and until it is dealt with, people don't find the necessity to look it in a different way," Ravichandran Ashwin said.

Ravichandran Ashwin went on to add:

“I was surprised to see some section of the crowd going on with it and they were not pulled up for it, it was surprising to see, this issue had to be dealt with, disappointing is a very mild word for this issue, I must say.”

“Definitely not acceptable in this day and age” - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin further pointed out that this is his fourth tour of Australia and added that the team had had these experiences in the past. Elaborating further, Ravichandran Ashwin said:

“I think one or two times players have reacted to this in the past and they have gotten into trouble, it is not because of the player, it is because of the way the crowd has been reacting. It is definitely not acceptable in this day and age, we have evolved as a society and this roots to the upbringing, this should be dealt with an iron first, by iron fist I mean the way we deal with it.”

🏏 STUMPS in Sydney!Three wonderful sessions for Australia. Can India battle it out on the final day?#AUSvIND SCORECARD ▶️ https://t.co/Zuk24dsH1t pic.twitter.com/8EISzpB62l

— ICC (@ICC) January 10, 2021

India ended Day 4 of the SCG Test at 98/2, in an improbable chase of 407 after Australia declared their second innings at 312/6. Ravichandran Ashwin and Navdeep Saini claimed two wickets each for India.

When South Africa complained of racial abuse at Perth

In December 2005, the visiting South African team had complained that few of their players were subjected to racial abuse on the third day of the Test at Perth.

The Proteas approached ICC match referee Chris Broad and the regional anti-corruption and security manager John Rhodes over abuses and slurs that Ashwell Prince, Garnett Kruger, Shaun Pollock, Justin Kemp, and Makhaya Ntini received while fielding on the boundary.