World Cup 2019: Did Zampa tamper? Accusations of Australia ball-tampering go viral
Adam Zampa has been accused of ball-tampering by cricket fans who raised questions about the Australia spin bowler's actions during Sunday's 36-run defeat to India in the Cricket World Cup.
Zampa was seen to remove an item from his pocket and pass it between his hands while holding the ball during the match at The Oval.
The incident occurred a little over a year after then Australia captain Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft colluded to alter the condition of a ball in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town.
Bancroft was subsequently banned from cricket for ninth months, while Smith and Warner - who are now back in the Australia team - both received 12-month bans.
World Cup 2019 : Aaron Finch clarifies the ball-tampering claims on Adam Zampa during match against India
Adam Zampa was caught rubbing the ball with a hand warmer during India vs Australia clash.What's the story?
Adam Zampa created havoc in the cricketing world when he was seen rubbing the ball with an unknown substance during the India-Australia clash in World Cup 2019. Social media became went into a frenzy and named it as a Sandpaper Gate 2.0 but Australian skipper Aaron Finch then clarified the issue. He stated in the post-match interview that Zampa carries the hand warmers in his pockets in every game.
The background
The 5-time champions received a huge boost when Steve Smith and David Warner made their comeback after serving a 1-year ban because of the ball-tampering scandal. The 2 top cricketing nations, India and Australia, met in a highly anticipated contest yesterday in match number 14 of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
After opting to bat first, India got off to a dream start as both the openers scored half-centuries by outplaying the Australian bowlers. India dominated the Australian side in all the aspects as they won the game by 36 runs. However, the match even gave birth to a controversy thanks to Adam Zampa’s hand warmers.
The heart of the matter
Adam Zampa made the cricket universe curious during the 24th over as he placed his hands in his pocket and took out an unknown substance. Twitterati being shocked termed it as the Sandpaper Gate 2.0 as Zampa was caught rubbing the ball with it on camera.
However, Aaron Finch revealed that the leggie was not trying to tamper the ball, but he carries hand warmers in his pocket in every match and he had them in his palm while he was holding the ball. It is quite cold in England at the moment hence the hand warmers might be a relief for every fielder on the ground.