Australian bowlers accused of ball-tampering during WTC final

Former Pakistan cricketer, Basit Ali, has made controversial allegations, accusing Australian bowlers of ball-tampering during the ongoing final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) at The Oval.

Australia racked up 469 in their first innings and then reduced India to 151-5 to put themselves in the box seat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval on Thursday.

Basit expressed his concerns on his YouTube channel, claiming that the Australian bowlers engaged in ball-tampering without being noticed by umpires, players, or commentators.

"I don't know whether umpires, players and commentators were blind or what. Australian bowlers clearly tempered the ball during 16th to 18th over. But, nobody even noticed it," Basit claimed.

"The ball on which Virat Kohli got out, Mitchel Starc showed the shining part of the ball but it swung into the batter. I know there was an uneven bounce but it wasn't reverse swing. In England conditions and that too with duke ball, you can't reverse in 16th or 18th over.

"Jadeja was attempting to play at on-side but the ball was going at point. It clearly shows that there was something wrong. India is not my team but I was watching the match with my glasses on. I am really disappointed the way nobody even dare to speak about it," he said.

The former cricketer expressed surprise that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), being one of the richest cricket boards, had not taken notice of the incident. Basit opined that this lack of action from the BCCI indicated their focus on matters other than cricket and considered the matter to be a serious one.

"I am surprised that the richest board BCCI didn't take notice of this. It means their focus is on something else than cricket. This is a serious matter," he concluded.