IND vs AUS: Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has accused the Pat Cummins-led Australian squad of tampering with the condition of the ball in the World Test Championship Final between India and Australia currently taking place at The Oval. Basit Ali said that Cummins & Co ‘made the ball’ close to the 15th over, which caused India’s batting collapse, during Australia’s domination on the first two days of the match. Ali stated his amazement that none of the players from India, officials, or commentators had observed Australia’s ball-tampering strategy.
“Firstly, I would clap for those watching the match from commentary box, and the umpires? Australia clearly played with the ball and no one is talking about it. No batter is wondering ‘What is happening?’ The biggest example is batters getting bowled while leaving the ball. Let me give you the evidence too. Until the 54th over when Shami was bowling, the shine was on the outside and the ball moved back into Steve Smith. This is not called reverse-swing. Reverse swing is when the shine is on the inside and the ball comes back in,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.
The former Pakistani batter used the dismissals of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, which occurred in the 14th and 19th overs, respectively, to support his assertion.
“The ball on which Virat Kohli got out… look at the shine. Mitchell Starc had the ball in his hand with the shiny end pointing outside but the ball was moving the other way. Jadeja was hitting the ball on the on-side and the ball was flying over point. Have the umpires gone blind? God knows who all are sitting there who can’t see such a simple thing,” he pointed out.
The Dukes ball would not, he said, come back in with the shine (reverse swing) in the first 20 overs.
“Green bowled with the shine pointing towards Pujara and the ball rocketed back in? I am surprised. BCCI is such a big board; can they not see it? It means that you aren’t focussed towards cricket. They are just happy knowing that India have reached the final. Does the ball ever reverse swing in 15-20 overs, that too Dukes ball? I understand that a Kookaburra ball can still reverse, but a Dukes ball lasts till 40 overs at least,” he added.
This is not the first time that Australian players have been accused of ball-tampering, as ‘sandpaper gate’ shocked the cricketing world in 2018. In the match against South Africa, David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft were all found guilty of ball tampering.
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