New Delhi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli was Tuesday cleared of alleged charges of ball tampering as reported by a section of the British media Tuesday in London. However, in another incident of the same nature, South African skipper Faf du Plessis was found guilty and fined 100 per cent of his match fees. South Africa are currently playing Australia in a three-match series.
The ICC said the charges levelled against Indian Test captain Virat Kohli by a British tabloid do not hold much ground as per the specific clauses in body’s rules and regulations about playing conditions.
The tabloid accused that some footages indicated that Kohli appeared to shine the ball using residue from a sweet during the first Test in Rajkot. The report claimed that TV cameras indicated Kohli putting his right hand towards his mouth and then appearing to shine one side of the ball. However, there has been no complaint filed by the visiting team and they declined to comment on the issue.
As per ICC regulations on ball tampering, if a team want to lodge a complaint about ball tampering by a rival team or their player, it has to be done within five days of the completion of the Test match. It has to be lodged with the match referee.
The match in question, the Rajkot Test ended November 13 and if England team had any complaints, they needed to make it official by November 18. All the ICC clauses, thus, put to rest media reports surrounding the incident.
However, Du Plessis did not have any such luck. He was found guilty by the ICC of ball during the second Test against Australia at Hobart.
Du Plessis received the punishment following a lengthy ICC hearing Tuesday in Adelaide, two days ahead of South Africa’s first day-night Test match at the Adelaide Oval. The South African captain, however, has been cleared to play the game.
The 32-year-old, standing in for injured regular skipper AB de Villiers, was charged Friday by the ICC after footage emerged that appeared to show the Proteas skipper applying saliva to the ball while sucking on a sweet.
After hearing representations and evidence from the umpires at last week’s second Test as well as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) head of cricket John Stephenson, ICC match referee Andy Pycroft found Du Plessis guilty.
“The decision was based on the evidence given from the umpires, who confirmed that had they seen the incident they would have taken action immediately, and from Mr Stephenson, who confirmed the view of MCC that the television footage showed an artificial substance being transferred to the ball,” the ICC said in a statement.
Bhuvi recalled for last 3 Tests
Having completely recovered from a back injury, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was Tuesday recalled to the 16-member Indian team for the final three Test matches against England, while veteran opener Gautam Gambhir was shown the exit door.
Bhuvneshwar, who produced a game-changing five-wicket haul against New Zealand in Kolkata, has been out of action for more than six weeks since that game.
Post recovery, he played a Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai as per team protocol. He took wickets in the match and bowled a total of 36 overs (13 in first innings and 23 in the second).
For the 35-year-old Gambhir, a veteran of 58 Tests, it could well be the end of the road as far as his international career is concerned.
While KL Rahul did not set the stage on fire at Visakhapatnam, his recent form before injury prompted the team management to invest in his immense talent. Murali Vijay is an assured presence at the top of the order and a fit Shikhar Dhawan means the reserve opener’s slot is for Rahul. Also Dhawan is still an important fixture in the limited overs format where he has an impressive record.
Agencies
