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Ravindra Jadeja hogged limelight on Day 1 of the first Test against Australia in Nagpur on Thursday (February 9) for two good reasons. One for breaking Australia's back with his scintillating spell of 5/47, and the other for rubbing some substance on his finger which sparked ball-tampering debate.
India skipper Rohit Sharma has finally put all the debate to rest as he informed the ICC match referee Andy PYcroft that Jadeja was using pain-relief cream to his index finger of his bowling hand.
On Day 1 of the Nagpur Test, a video footage, Jadeja was seen taking a substance off the back of Mohammed Siraj’s palm with his right hand. Jadeja then appeared to rub this substance on to the index finger of his left hand – his bowling arm – just before beginning to bowl a delivery. At no point in the footage was Jadeja seen rubbing anything on the ball itself, though he did have the ball in his hands at the time. ICC has barred the use of any substance, even saliva to shine the ball. The incident took place when Australia were 120/5, by which time Jadeja had already dismissed Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw and Steven Smith.
Here's the video…
According to a report in ESPNcricnfo, following the end of the opening day’s play in Nagpur, Jadeja, India captain Rohit Sharma and the team manager were shown the video clip that went viral. As per the report, Pycroft wanted to inform the Indian team about the incident and Jadeja has not been charged over the controversy. It is believed that the Australian team also did not raise the matter with the match referee.
The match referee may independently investigate such incidents depending on the circumstances without requiring a complaint to be made. According to cricketing laws, the bowler needs the umpire’s permission to apply any sort of substance on their hands to ensure the condition of the ball remains unaffected.
Talking about the match, Jadeja, who was returning to international cricket after almost five months, led the charge for the bowlers, with Ravichandran Ashwin bagging three more and Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj taking a wicket each to bundle visitors to 177.
Day 1 wrapped up with India in charge with the bat as well with 77/1, with openers Rohit Sharma finishing the day with an unbeaten 56 runs in 69 balls. KL Rahul (20 off 710) was the only batter to lose his wicket, after being caught and bowled by Australian debutant Todd Murphy.
