ICC WTC Final: The ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final is currently taking place between India and Australia at the Oval, England. The two days of the game have been dominated by the Pat Cummins-led side and they have put India under immense pressure.
After being asked to bat first on a green lush track, Australia struggled initially and was tumbling at 76/3. But after that staggering centuries from Travis Head (163) and Steve Smith (121) brought them back into the game and help them pile up a gigantic first innings total of 469 runs on the board.
It was expected that India would display a similar kind of batting performance as the pitch looked good to bat. But this didn’t happen as they lost wickets in clusters and were put under tremendous pressure. An opening 30-run partnership by Rohit Sharma and Shubman gave hope to Indian fans that they are up for the challenge in the ongoing ICC WTC Final.
However, in a drastic turn of events, India was left tottering at 71/4 with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara too back in the hut. Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja put up a decent 71-run partnership but it was only a matter of time until the stand was broken as Nathan Lyon removed the all-rounder for 48 runs. At Stumps on Day 2, India was 151/5 and is still massive 318 runs behind Australia’s score.
Basit Ali, a former Pakistani cricketer, however, was left amazed by the awkward movement of the ball in the second innings of ICC WTC Final. He said that Australia tampered with the ball and was shocked to see the ball offering a reverse swing in the 20th over itself. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he said:
“No batter talked about what’s happening with the ball. The biggest example is two batters got out while leaving the ball. I know that usually there is no evidence, but I’ll give you one today. During the 73rd or 74th over, the shiny part of the ball was outside and Smith was batting as the ball came in. In England, when the shiny part is on the outside, the ball comes back in.
“It’s not called reverse swing. Reverse swing is when the shine is inside and the ball also comes back in. If you look at the ball by Mitchell Starc that got Kohli, the shiny part was outside. The ball went in with the shine. The batters were trying to hit it on the off side, but the ball went on the on side.”
ICC WTC Final: “The umpires went blind. India is not my team, but I watch the sport with my spectacles on,” says Basit Ali
ICC WTC Final: Basit Ali further went on to say that Australia clearly tampered with the ball and umpires went blind. He pointed out Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket, saying that the shine was inside and the ball move the same way whereas it should’ve been the other way around.
“The umpires went blind. India is not my team, but I watch the sport with my spectacles on. They clearly tampered with the ball. Even Cameron Green’s wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, the shine was inside. I’m stunned no one saw it. BCCI is said to be the biggest board in the world, how can they not see it?”
The onus now lies on Ajinkya Rahane and KS Bharat to bail India out of trouble and take their side close to Australia’s total in the ICC WTC Final.
