Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has accused Australia of ball-tampering on Day 2 of the World Test Championship final against India. The 52-year-old noted that the Dukes ball does not reverse swing until at least 40 overs, but the Pat Cummins-led team was able to reverse it after only 15 overs, allowing them to defeat Cheteshwar Pujara and others.
Notably, a spectacular in-swinging delivery outwitted Pujara, while Kohli failed to react to Mitchell Starc’s vicious bouncer. In the meantime, Basit criticised the umpires and commentators for their inability to decipher the Australian ball-tampering technique before explaining the entire mechanism.
“To begin with, I would applaud those in the commentary box and the umpires. Australia obviously controlled the ball, but nobody seems to care. No batter is pondering, ‘What is happening?’ The most prevalent instance is batters who are bowled while fleeing the ball.
“Allow me to provide evidence as well. Until the 54th over, when Shami was bowling, the ball returned to Steve Smith with a sheen on the exterior. The term for this is not reverse swing. Ali explained on his YouTube channel that a reverse swing occurs when the ball returns with the sheen on the inside.
“Look at the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth overs, the ball on which Virat Kohli was dismissed… observe the sheen. Mitchell Starc held the ball with the shiniest side facing outward, but the ball was travelling in the opposite direction. Jadeja was striking the ball on the on-side, and it was flying beyond the point. Have the umpires lost their vision? He added, “God knows who is sitting there who cannot see such a simple thing.”
Australia remains in the lead after the second day of the WTC final. In the first inning, the Kangaroos scored 469 runs thanks to centuries from Travis Head and Steve Smith, and their bowlers were also outstanding. India, meanwhile, are 151/5 and require a monumental recovery to place Australia under pressure on Day 3.
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