Basit Ali has accused the Pat Cummins-led Australian team of ball tampering.© AFP
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has accused the Pat Cummins-led Australian team of altering with the condition of the ball in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India at The Oval. After posting a total of 469, Australia restricted India to a total of 151/5 at stumps on Day 2. Amid Australia’s dominance on the first two days of the match, Basit Ali, who played 19 Tests and 50 ODIs for Pakistan, said that Cummins and co. ‘made the ball’ near the 15th over, which led to India’s batting collapse.
The 52-year-old expressed his surprise over the fact that no one, including the officials, commentators and the Indian players, noticed Australia’s tactics of altering with the ball.
“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.
To further back his claim, the former Pakistan batter pointed out the dismissal of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara which took place in the 14th and the 19th over, respectivey.
“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.
He further pointed that there is no way the Dukes ball would 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.
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