Former India coach Ravi Shastri ripped into ex-England captain Michael Vaughan who suggested foul play by allrounder Ravindra Jadeja during Day 1 of the first Test between the Rohit Sharma-led side and Australia in Nagpur on Thursday.
Michael Vaughan's allegations on Ravindra Jadeja came after he was labeled a cheater and a fraud by the Australian press that accused him of tampering with the ball at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
According to multiple Australian media outlets, Team India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj were caught in a controversial moment, with video footage suggesting the duo was engaged in some form of ball-tampering at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
The row began after a video generated immense interest on Twitter. The viral clip featuring Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja even saw ex-Australia skipper Tim Paine reacting to it.
The incident happened when the Pat Cummins-led side was in deep trouble, with the score reading 120/5. Alex Carey and Peter Handscomb were at the crease when television cameras captured the Indian pair together, with videos showing that some substance changed hands between them. However, there was no clarity on what it was. Subsequently, Ravindra Jadeja rubbed his spinning finger and got on with the job of bowling overs.
An Australian cricket supporter posted the footage on the microblogging platform, tagging Tim Paine, urging the former wicketkeeper batter to share his opinion on the matter. Moments later, Tim Paine gave a one-word reply to the tweet, writing back “interesting”.
Fox Sports, one of the most prominent media outlets in Australia, dubbed the whole episode “questionable”.
“A debate has erupted after vision of a questionable moment was spotted during the first innings of the first Test between Australia and India,” Fox Sports said on Twitter.
Reacting to the tweet, Michael Vaughan wrote: “What is it he is putting on his spinning finger? Never ever seen this”.
Meanwhile, reports in the Indian media suggested that Team India responded to the wild allegations, categorically denying any foul play on their part. The Indian team management informed Match referee Andy Pycroft that Ravindra Jadeja applied pain-relief cream on his fingers. After listening to Team India's version of events, Pycroft decided against charging Ravindra Jadeja with any offense.
The Indian cricket team said that Mohammed Siraj handed over an ointment to Ravindra Jadeja to apply on his spinning arm as the fingers swell when the slow bowlers deliver a lot of overs in red-ball cricket. In the Saurashtra-born cricketer’s case, he bowled 22 overs during Day 1 of the Nagpur Test.
Speaking about the incident at the start of Day 2, host broadcaster Star Sports asked Ravi Shastri to comment on Michael Vaughan's tweet about the Indian cricket team.
“I have not heard much about it. I have asked two questions. Was there any problem with the Australian team? The answer was ‘no'. Did the match referee come into play? He was told about it, he cleared everything, matter ends. Why are we discussing anybody else? And to be honest, ointment as a reliever, the match referee would have been told if there was any decision to be taken or action, he would have taken it. By the way, on this track, you don't need anything, the ball will turn,” Ravi Shastri said.
The bizarre Australian claim came after Ravindra Jadeja made a grand return to action after a five-month injury-induced layoff.
Playing for India for the first time since September 2022, when he suffered a knee injury before undergoing surgery and beginning a long rehab period, Ravindra Jadeja was on the money from ball one, finding enough turn, loop, and bounce to trouble the Australian batters on a dry wicket in Vidarbha.
With former Australian cricketers like Ian Healy putting juice in the series much before it kickstarted in the ‘City of Oranges’ with his remarks about “unfair” pitches in India, the first day in Nagpur lived up to its billing.
While Team India pacers, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami, started the Australian collapse with wickets of their openers, Usman Khawaja and David Warner, it was Ravindra Jadeja who turned out to be the hero of Day 1, picking a five-wicket haul for just 47 runs. It was the 11th occasion when Ravindra Jadeja had taken a fifer in Test cricket and the 4th time against the Kangaroos.
The other man to help Ravindra Jadeja dismantle the Australian batting line-up was his spin mate Ravichandran Ashwin who took 3/42 to put India on top on the first day of the series. Ravichandran’s three wickets also included his 450th scalp, making him the quickest Indian to do so in 89 Tests, ahead of the legendary Anil Kumble.
Despite Ravichandran Ashwin’s massive feat, Ravindra Jadeja was the one who stole the limelight at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium because he never looked rusty despite not having played any form of international cricket for more than five months.
Instead, Ravindra Jadeja seemed to be enjoying his cricket out there in the middle and looked to be one bowler to take wickets every over.
He got his rewards in the form of big wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. The two batters were sent back to the pavilion by a peach of delivery each from Jadeja. If Marnus Labuschagne was stumped after the Saurashtra-born left-arm spinner brought him out of the crease, Steve Smith lost his stumps after the ball straightened from the middle stump.
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