5 most bizarre things cricketers use for tampering the ball
By handing over a 12-month ban to Australian captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, the International Cricket Council has sent across a strict message to cricketers around the world – that they will not dismiss ball-tampering as a small offence anymore.
The history of ball-tampering in the sport is vast. Even respected players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have been tempted by this method which changes the motion of the ball and increases the chances of getting wickets.
But have you ever wondered which substances are the most commonly used to tamper the ball? Have a look below
#5 Trouser zip
South Africa’s Faf du Plessis was charged for changing the condition of the ball by rubbing it against his trouser zip. This happened in a 2013 Test against Pakistan in Dubai. He was consequently fined 50 percent of his match fee but that didn’t stop him from not resorting to ball tampering in the future.
In 2016 too, against Australia, Plessis had sucked the ball on a sweet to make it shine. This was caught on camera and the batsman was fined 100% of his match fee by the ICC, which was the double of his initial fine against Pakistan.