Responding to Australia’s first-innings total of 469, India got off to a woeful start in their first innings at the Kennington Oval as they lost both their openers – Rohit Sharma (15) and Shubman Gill (13) cheaply. After that Cameron Green cleaned up Cheteshwar Pujara (14). Pujara’s dismissal was a near-replica of Gill as both the Indian batters failed in leaving to see their stumps get clattered.
While Pujara was dismissed on the final ball of the 15th over, Virat Kohli was next to depart on 14 in the 19th over after edging one to Steve Smith at the second slip off the bowling of Mitchell Starc.
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has accused Australia of tampering with the ball during Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against India. Ali expressed his disappointment with the umpires and cricket experts for failing to recognize Australia’s alleged ball-tampering technique. He provided examples of batters being bowled while leaving the ball and cited specific moments where the shine on the ball contradicted its movement.
“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.
Ali also explained that true reverse swing occurs when the shine is on the inside of the ball and moves back in, which was not the case in the match. Ali highlighted the unusual reverse swing achieved by the Australian team with the Dukes ball, suggesting that it typically doesn’t occur until at least 40 overs into play. However, the Pat Cummins-led side managed to make the ball reverse after just 15 overs, leading to the dismissal of Pujara and others.
“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,” Ali added.
Ali brought focus on the deliveries that resulted in Virat Kohli’s and Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissals, casting doubt on the umpires’ competence in recognizing the irregularity.
“Look at the 16th, 17th and 18th over, 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,” Ali pointed out.
Ball tampering by Australia against India?
Basit Ali says Australia did ball tampering against India to dismiss Shubman Gill, Pujara and Kohli. He also says they had tampered the ball even when Jadeja was batting out there. #WTCFinal #WTCFinal2023
Video Credits: Basit Ali YT pic.twitter.com/refFZC2cRz
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 8, 2023
