17 April,2010 06:19 AM IST | | Agni Pandey
While the Kochi Indian Premier League team controversy grips Indian cricket, there were a subtle battle between two of the IPL's most glamourous cricketing names here yesterday.
Wasim Akram, the bowling consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, who are virtually out of the competition just like Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals, caused a ripple yesterday when he said that bowlers in the Twenty20 event were using red soil to tamper with the condition of the ball.
"Around the 18th, 19th over in places like Rajasthan, Mumbai or Ahmedabad where there is red soil, it is difficult to see the ball under lights and by putting the mud on the ball these players are trying to contain the batsmen or get wickets," he said on espnstar.com
Since Rajasthan was mentioned by Akram, the wizard of spin was asked about what he thought about it.u00a0u00a0
"I am hearing all this for the first time! I think Wasim was an expert on this issue. He knows more than me about all this things," said Warne.
Akram enjoyed a highly successful career as a swing bowler, but has also been accused of tampering so probably Warne kept that in mind in his reaction.
When MiD DAY spoke to Akram about Warne's response, he said: Mujhe koi farak nehi padta (it does not make a difference to me). I never mentioned any player's name. I wrote what I saw and I stick to my views."
I won't name anyone but I have seen quite a few cricketers who have been rubbing mud on the ball and that is also tampering. If umpires are not watching then I don't know who is. In this IPL, umpires should look for players who are putting mud on the ball because you can't alter the state of the ball with anything.
Akram however didn't subscribe to the view that applying mud on the ball would facilitate reverse swing. He also clarified that spinners who run their hands over mud before bowling are not guilty of tampering. "That is different, that is just to get some grip on the ball but here someone is just going berserk rubbing the mud on the ball," he said.u00a0
It can be recalled that the Englishmen, who witnessed the exploits of Akram and fellow pace ace Waqar Younis in the English summer of 1992, pointed fingers at the Pakistani duo who troubled the batsmen with their vicious swing.u00a0 Unfortunately, Akram hasn't been able to do wonders for the Riders. Many expected Ishant Sharma would improve under the guidance of the great but the lanky fast bowlers seemed out of sorts.
