Former South Africa-American cricketer Rusty Theron has questioned the International Cricket Council (ICC) while accusing Pakistan of ball tampering during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash against USA. Theron alleged that the Pakistan team was scratching the ball vigorously and mentioned that the pacer, Haris Rauf was rubbing his nail over the ball. USA defeated Pakistan in a Super Over thriller and the result has made the Group A interesting in the ongoing tournament.
“@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren't scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that's just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumb nail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA,” Theron wrote on Twitter (now X.)
From 14th to 19th over, USA scored just 41 runs in the six-over period as Pakistan came back with a disciplined bowling effort which included a couple of wickets as well. USA needed 15 runs in the final over and Haris Rauf, who had been outstanding prior to that over, gave away 14 for the match to spill into the super-over decider.
Mohammad Amir was given the responsibility to bowl the super over after a scintillating 19th over in the main game. However, it was wayward bowling from Amir that cost Pakistan the game as the left-armer gave away eight extras and USA scored 18 runs, which they eventually defended.
Pakistan still have three matches left but they will have to turn their campaign around drastically and quickly, starting with the highly-anticipated clash against India. Pakistan's intent with the bat in the powerplay and the lack of wickets during the field restrictions with the ball will be big reasons to worry for the 2009 champions and will hope that they improve on the same in the coming games.
