Despite criticisms, many former cricketers have supported Mohammad Siraj's aggression against Travis Head at Adelaide, including Ravi Shastri, as he did in one of his colums to Code. The former Indian Head Coach Shastri totally supported the idea of giving it back when it comes to the Australians. Siraj gave a fiery send-off to Travis Head after dismissing him. Some verbal spats broke out between them, for which the crowd booed Siraj heavily. However, Shastri supported Siraj, asking him not to step back. In a column written to the Code, he said, “I’m sure Siraj and Head are mature individuals who will deal with it and the dust would have settled already. If anything, 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. 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." The International Cricket Council fined 20% of the match fee and handed one demerit point to Siraj. Even former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh found the ICC to be a lot stricter, as both of them have sorted things out between them. Read also: Watch: 'Babysitter' Pant spotted having fun with fan's kid in Adelaide Siraj vs Head incident The ICC has penalized Mohammad Siraj and Travis Head for their verbal spat during the second Test in Adelaide. Siraj was fined 20% of his match fee, which equates to about AUD 16,500 or INR 8,95,340, for breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct, while Head received a demerit point under Article 2.13 for "abuse of a player." Both players earned their first demerit points in the last 24 months. The incident began when Siraj gave Head a fiery send-off after dismissing him on Day 2. Head, who had smashed 140 runs, allegedly mockingly said "well bowled," which Siraj didn’t take kindly to. This led to crowd boos and an on-field exchange, with Rishabh Pant stepping in to calm things. The next day, Siraj denied Head’s claims, but the two appeared to resolve the matter by Day 3. Skipper Rohit Sharma defended Siraj’s aggression, calling it motivating. India lost the Test by 10 wickets, with the next match set for Brisbane on December 14.