‘Are Umpires blind?’ – Ex-Pakistani cricketer alleges Australia of ball tampering in WTC 2023 final against India

Australia have put themselves in a commendable position to win the second edition of the ongoing World Test Championship Final against India at the Oval, England. Powered by the centuries by Travis Head and Steve Smith, Australia posted 469 runs in their first innings. In reply, their bowlers didn’t let the Indian batters score big and kept on taking wickets in regular intervals.

Australian pacers completely destroyed the Indian top order and laid the foundation for a big first innings lead. First Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed by the Australian skipper Pat Cummins in the sixth over. After that, Shubman Gill failed to judge the good length delivery that led to the fall of his off stump. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli also failed to score big and India were on the back foot in the second day of the Test match.

Watching the Indian batter struggling against the Australian pacers, former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali made a shocking allegation on the Australian team. Ali said that he also has proofs of the ball tempering done by the Australian team to take India’s wickets. He also claimed that he is shocked to see that no one is talking about Australia’s tactics to including officials, commentators, and the Indian batters themselves.

‘God knows who all are sitting there…’ – Ali

“Firstly, I would clap for those watching the match from the commentary box, and the umpires? Australia clearly played with the ball and no one is talking about it. No batter is wondering ‘What is happening?’ The biggest example is batters getting bowled while leaving the ball. Let me give you the evidence too. Until the 54th over when Shami was bowling, the shine was on the outside and the ball moved back into Steve Smith. This is not called reverse swing. Reverse swing is when the shine is on the inside and the ball comes back in,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.

“Look at the 16th, 17th and 18th over, the ball on which Virat Kohli got out… look at the shine. Mitchell Starc had the ball in his hand with the shiny end pointing outside but the ball was moving the other way. Jadeja was hitting the ball on the on-side and the ball was flying over point. Have the umpires gone blind? God knows who all are sitting there who can’t see such a simple thing,” he further said.