Steve Smith defends Faf du Plessis in ball tampering allegation

South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis who was charged with ball tampering allegations found a surprising support in the form of rival captain Steve Smith where he stated that each and every team shines the ball the same way as Faf does.

The Proteas skipper was found guilty of breaching the clause 2.2.9 of the ICC’s code a rule that deals with “changing the condition of the match ball”. The incident occurred during the Hobart Test as ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson laid down the charges on du Plessis. The stylish right-hander had to part with his full match fees although he eluded suspension for his actions.

Speaking to the media, Aussie captain Steve Smith supported his counterpart and claimed that there was nothing wrong with the way du Plessis shined the ball. “So look, we along with every other team around the world, shine the ball the same way”, he said.

The South African captain has completely dismissed the ball tampering allegations and pleaded to be innocent and has been supported by his teammates and coach Russell Domingo.

“The verdict was that I was guilty. I still completely disagree with that. I felt like I have done nothing wrong. It is something that all the cricketers do,” he had said.

Du Plessis had earlier stated that Australian team won’t be speaking on the ball tampering allegations because “they know it’s part of their team as well” so it came as a pleasant surprise to Faf when Steve Smith came out in his support. Du Plessis who took the captaincy from the injured AB de Villiers is yet to lose a match during his interim appointment.

Responding to du Plessis’ comments on the silence in the Australian camp, Smith said, “I have seen Faf’s comments in his press conference. And look, from my point of view, and I make it very clear that we haven’t come out and said anything about Faf or about how he was shining the ball or anything like that”.

The Final Test of the series is scheduled to start from 24th November in Adelaide and the match will be played with a pink ball and under lights. South Africa have already won the series 2-0 and Australia would look to salvage some lost pride after replacing 6 members from the original squad.