Mumbai: South African captain Faf du Plessis was found guilty for changing the condition of the ball during the second Test against Australia on Friday. ICC (International Cricket Council) charged him after a Video footage emerged. It clearly shows the 32-year-old licking his finger and shining the ball while eating a sweet.
Faf du Plessis is booked for breaching level two of the International Cricket Council code of conduct relating to “changing the condition of the ball” using an artificial substance.
“The alleged incident happened on Tuesday morning when TV footage appeared to show du Plessis applying saliva and residue from a mint or sweet, an artificial substance, to the ball in an attempt to change its condition,” it said.
Under cricket rules, a player may shine the ball provided no artificial substance is used.
Soon a hearing will be scheduled for du Plessis to defend the allegations imposed on him by ICC. If not proven white, the skipper may face a 50 to 100 per cent loss of his match fee, or potentially a one-Test or two-ODI ban.
The South African team showed support for their captain. The squad stood behind star batsman Hashim Amla and fronted media in Melbourne. Former South Africa captain Hashim Amla, who also played against Australia in the week, firstly assumed the charge against Du Plessis “was actually a joke”.
“It’s not April, but the allegation against Faf was a really ridiculous thing” veteran batsman Hashim Amla told reporters.
The reason everyone is here is to stand together, really, and to show solidarity to something… we thought was actually a joke,” he added.
It was then put to Amla that his captain was under investigation over the incident.
“Whether it is or not, we’ve done nothing wrong and I know Faf has done absolutely nothing wrong,” he said.
“I chew bubble gum while I’m on the field – you want me to brush my teeth after lunch?
“We’re standing out on the field for two hours … there was no malicious intent whatsoever.”
As officials tried to change the topic, Amla and some journalists had a testy exchange about the subject.
“Is it proven or what? Because that’s something that is really new to us,” Amla said.
“I’ve had sweets in my mouth, bubblegum in my mouth, biltong, nuts – I’m not sure what the big deal is.
“To a lot of people, it’s sounding more like sour sweets.”
However, it’s not a new happening for South African captain Faf du Plessis. In 2013, Du Plessis was fined 50% of his match fee for ball tampering in the second Test against Pakistan.
Presently South Africa is 2-0 ahead in the series.