Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram on Friday dropped a bombshell by claiming that bowlers in the ongoing IPL have been tampering with the ball by rubbing red soil on it.
Akram, currently the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, criticised the field umpires for not taking notice of the ball tampering practice once the floodlights are on and batsmen looking to accelerate.
“I won’t name anyone but I have seen quite a few cricketers who have been rubbing mud on the ball and that is also tampering,” Akram said.
“Around the 18th, 19th over in places like Rajasthan, Mumbai or Ahmedabad where there is red soil, it is difficult to see the ball under lights and by putting the mud on the ball these players are trying to contain the batsmen or get wickets,” he added.
“If umpires are not watching then I don’t know who is. In this IPL, umpires should look for players who are putting mud on the ball because you can’t alter the state of the ball with anything,” the legendary left-arm fast bowler told espnstar.com .
Akram, however, denied that the practice of spinners vigorously running their hands over mud before bowling does not amount to tampering.
“That is different, that is just to get some grip on the ball but here someone is just going berserk rubbing the mud on the ball,” he said.
He, however, denied that rubbing mud on the ball would result in reverse swing.
