On Sunday, Adam Zampa went wicketless and conceded 50 runs from his six overs in a match that Australia lost by 36 runs against India.
Adam Zampa
During Australia's World Cup fixture against India, leg-spinner Adam Zampa was seen putting his hands inside his pocket and then rubbing the ball at The Oval in London, thus raising a few eyebrows and leaving people speculating about ball-tampering.
On Sunday, Zampa went wicketless and conceded 50 runs from his six overs in a match that Australia lost by 36 runs against India.
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However, apart from his lacklustre performance, what caught the eyes of many were the pictures and videos floating on social media which showed Zampa rubbing the ball each time after he put his hands inside his pocket. In the media clippings, he was also seen taking something out of his pocket before bowling.
After the match, however, skipper Aaron Finch rubbished the ball-tampering allegations and said that the leggie had hand warmers in his pockets, which he carries in every game.
"I haven't seen the photos, but I know that he has hand warmers in his pocket. He has them every single game he plays. I honestly haven't seen them, so I can't comment too much on it. But I know for a fact that he has hand warmers every game," Finch told the reporters at the post-match press conference.
The media clippings immediately brought back memories of the Newlands Test between South Africa and Australia last year when Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing sandpaper on the ball on the big screen 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 cricket body.
Ball tampering is an issue which will always haunt Australian players after Steve Smith and David Warner's bans from international cricket for a year.
David Warner was ranked No. 5 on the ICC Test batting rankings when he was handed the ban, while Steve Smith was the No. 1 ranked Test batsman in the world when he was given the ban.
The duo is back in the Australian team for the World Cup 2019 and has been instrumental in the side's two wins in their first two matches.
With inputs from IANS.
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