‘I don't think there was anything like that’ – Michael Vaughan defends England over ball-tampering accusations in Lord’s Test

Besides some exciting action between the bat and the ball, the ongoing second Test between England and India witnessed a significant controversy. A couple of England players have been accused of tampering the ball with their shoe spikes during the Lord’s Test. In a viral video, two English players – whose faces weren’t captured – were seen stamping on the ball and rolling it around the ground.

With Team India not making any official complain, the issue hasn’t been escalated. However, many fans and experts have been slamming English players for allegedly changing the condition of the ball. In this episode, however, the Three Lions received support from Michael Vaughan. Defending his countrymen, the former England captain said the whole incident was blown out of proportion as the act didn’t seem deliberate to him.

A still picture can make things look a damn sight worse: Michael Vaughan

“You know what? I didn’t even see it. I didn’t even notice that someone had trodded on the ball. Sometimes, a still picture can make things look a damn sight worse. I’d also say if England did try to do it, it didn’t work because the ball didn’t move an inch, they aren’t very good at it,” Vaughan said in a conversation with Cricbuzz.

“I don’t think there was anything like that, I went to see the coverage afterwards to make sure I was studying to see if England had tried to really screw with the ball, I didn’t they had but obviously a still shot picture and then it goes and escalates across the media, never looks great,” he added.

Notably, Team India’s batting coach, in the post-day press conference, had said that his side doesn’t have any complaints with the home team. Highlighting the same, Vaughan took a dig at social media users for criticizing the Joe Root-led side over the episode.

“The batting coach of India (Vikram Rathour) came out and said India didn’t have any issues with it. That’s why social media can be a little bit precarious, it can make a picture look a bit worse than actually what happened in that given moment,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Test is somewhat poised after the end of Day 4. In reply to India’s first-innings total of 364 runs, the hosts posted 391, gaining a lead of 27 runs. India, in their second innings, put up a mixed batting show and were 181/6 at stumps on the penultimate day. Nevertheless, the visitors have already gained a lead of 154 runs and it would be interesting to see how the remaining contest pans out.