Ball-tampering controversy cropped up in the second Test between India and England at Lords. In the second session of the fourth day, photos of England players keeping the ball under their shoes and trying to change its shape went viral on social media.
On the third day of play, the pitch fully assisted the batting. The bowlers were unable to swing the ball no matter how hard they tried. Taking advantage of this, England captain Joe Root played a master class innings. The England bowlers took three wickets as the ball was swinging in the morning.
After that, the ball did not swing. Social media is rife saying that the bowlers may have resorted to tampering to get the extra bit of assistance. It appears from the photos that English players tried three times to tamper with the ball. It remains to be seen whether ICC will comment on this matter.
Commentator Aakash Chopra also reacted to this and said the ball is being tampered with. The latest photos are reminiscent of the 2018 Cape Town Test. At the time, Aussie player Cameron Bancroft pulled sandpaper out of his pocket and tampered with the ball but only to get caught on camera. The Aussie board imposed a 12-month ban on then-captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner and a nine-month ban on Bancroft.
