During Australia’s World Cup 2019 clash with India, leg-spinner Adam Zampa was seen putting hands inside his pocket and then rubbing the ball at The Oval in London, thus raising a few eyebrows and leaving the fans speculating about ball-tampering.
On Sunday, Zampa went wicketless and conceded 50 runs from his six overs in a match that Australia eventually lost by 36 runs.
Apart from his lacklustre performance, what caught the eyes of many were the videos and pictures revolving on social media which showed Zampa rubbing the ball each time after he put his hands inside the pocket. In few clips, he was also seen taking something out of his pocket before delivering a ball.
What's happening here? What's Adam Zampa up to? #INDvAUS #WorldCup2019
Video Credit: StarSports/Hotstar pic.twitter.com/Gqt9HxvGUr
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) June 9, 2019
Ball Tampering 2.0 👏🙏 #INDvAUS #Zampa #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NHs4CODoNZ
— Ravindra Jadeja Fan (@SirJadeja_Real) June 9, 2019
These footages immediately brought back memories of the Newlands Test between South Africa and Australia last year when the cameraman caught Cameron Bancroft rubbing sandpaper on the ball at the ground. Steve Smith and David Warner were handed one-year ban by Cricket Australia while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban by the Australian board.
However, former England captain Kevin Pietersen has come forward to show support for Zampa over the ball-tampering allegations.
“Almost EVERYBODY uses hand warmers when it’s cold here in England when fielding. Hands in pockets the WHOLE time! Zamps was just being dozy! NOTHING IN IT!,” Pietersen tweeted in response to Zampa ball-tampering claims.
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1137987799146213378
