India players allegedly suffer racial abuse from crowd in Sydney test: reports

SYDNEY: India's players were allegedly subjected to racial abuse from a section of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in the third test against Australia on Saturday, local media reported.

India captain Ajinkya Rahane and other senior players spoke to the umpires at the end of the third day's play after quicks Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj complained of hearing racist slurs while fielding near the boundary rope, the reports said.

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara did not answer when asked about the matter at the end-of-day news conference.

Reuters was unable to confirm if the Indian cricket board (BCCI) had officially lodged a complaint with its Cricket Australia counterpart.

The two boards and the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"We've come to know about the issue," BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told Indian news agency ANI.

"Cricket is a gentleman's game and these kinds of things are not allowed or accepted."

According to the ICC anti-discrimination policy, the host board would have to probe any incident relating to 'inappropriate conduct' and submit a report to the world governing body within two weeks.

A man was banned from attending cricket matches in New Zealand for two years after being found guilty of abusing England fast bowler Jofra Archer during a 2019 tour.