USA bowler Rusty Theron accuses Haris Rauf of ball tampering in PAK vs USA match

Haris Rauf is being blamed for Pakistan’s shock defeat against the USA in the T20 World Cup 2024. The speedster failed to defend 14 runs in the 20th over, which led the game to a Super Over. However, before the last over, Rauf had bowled a decent 3-over spell, besides, Mohammad Amir and Naseem Shah were also good with the ball.

Rusty Theron pleads with the ICC to look into the matter

Meanwhile, South African-USA cricketer Rusty Theron suspected something suspicious in the Pakistan pacers’ bowling after the ball change. Theron has accused the Pakistan team of ball tampering during the match. The cricketer took to his X handle and made a huge allegation against the men in green. According to him, Haris Rauf scratched the ball with his thumbnail, which led to him and other seamers getting reverse swing.

Theron pleaded with the ICC to look into the matter, writing on his X handle, “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 Haris Rauf running his thumbnail over the ball at the top of his mark.”

@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

— Rusty Theron (@RustyTheron) June 6, 2024

Rusty Theron, being a fast bowler himself, is well aware that it is unlikely to reverse swing a fresh ball. Making a ball able to reverse swing is also a work of art. The team keeps shining one side of the ball while the other side gets rough through play. When you bowl with such a ball, which has one shiny side and one rough side, the Magnus effect applies to the ball, causing it to start reverse swinging.

In cricket, a team is only allowed to shine the ball, not alter its condition. Altering a ball using objects such as sandpaper or nails to roughen one side is prohibited, as it can cause the ball to reverse swing instantly. Therefore, ball tampering is a serious offense in the cricket rule book.

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However, it is not proven that the Pakistan team actually altered the condition of the ball in the match against the USA. It will be interesting to see if the ICC takes Rusty Theron’s tweet seriously and investigates the matter. Speaking of Rusty Theron, he is a former South African bowler who now plays for the USA. Although, Theron has not been included in the USA’s T20 World Cup squad.