#INDvAUS: Ex-Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali makes ball tampering claim against Australia

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has claimed that Australia tampered the ball in the first innings against India in the World Test Championship final.

 

This came after the former Pakistani cricketer pointed out how the Aussies ‘made the ball’ around the 15th over of the first innings in his YouTube channel. He added that the tactics helped them get rid of India’s Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. Both Pujara and Kohli were dismissed in quick succession by Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc respectively.

 

 

 

"I would clap for those watching the match from the 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.

 

 

 

He added, "Look at the 16th, 17th and 18th overs. Specifically, 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. Ravindra 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 lamented.

 

It must be noted that in the 18th over of the innings, the ball was changed on the instructions of umpire Richard Kettleborough after it had gone out of shape. It was after the new ball was taken, that Ali said the ball started behaving oddly with India slipping from 30/2 to 71/4.

 

"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 the Dukes ball? I understand that a Kookaburra ball can still reverse, but a Dukes ball lasts till 40 overs at least,” Ali said.

 

For Australia, ball tampering can be a sensitive topic, after the country’s team was mired in a ball tampering scandal back in 2018. TV cameras had caught Australian players roughing up one side of the ball with sandpaper bits hidden in players’ pockets. Called ‘sandpaper gate’, the scandal saw David Warner and Steve Smith handed one-year bans while Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.