India vs Australia: Steve Smith Does His Best to Unsettle Rishabh Pant; Indian Fans Fume

In desperation to win the third Test match at Sydney against India, the hosts Australia have once again taken to unsportsmanlike behaviour especially from their former skipper Steve Smith. While the visiting batsmen fought hard to save the match, a video clip from the game which shows Smith scuffing Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s batting guard marks during the drinks break in the second session has created quite a stir among cricket folk and social media.

India vs Australia, 3rd Test Full Scorecard | India vs Australia, 3rd Test  Highlights

The incident occurred on Monday when Smith was caught on camera scuffing up the batsman guard on purpose when the players were on drinks break. The stump cam footage showed Smith walking up to the batting crease and trying a left-handed shadow batting. The brief footage showed Smith taking a step down the wicket before digging a groove near the crease with his foot.

Smith’s antics at the crease, had Pant who came back on strike after the break, can be seen marking his guard all over again.

Watch the video here:

https://twitter.com/cricket_badger/status/1348427038349258752

Surprisingly, this incident was not shown in Australia, however, viewers of coverage outside Australia were able to see Smith’s actions. His face isn’t visible in the video but cricket enthusiasts instantly recognized Smith by his jersey number (49). The former Aussie skipper’s actions have enraged cricket fans globally and led to angry reactions on social media. Even the Australian fans joined in slamming their national team for employing negative tactics against the visiting side.

While few compared it to the 'sandpapergate scandal,' which led to Smith’s removal from captaincy and banned him for two years along with David Warner in 2018 against South Africa in Cape Town. While other users drew on unable to stand such tactics in the gentleman’s game.

One user slamming the Australian national team’s arrogance wrote that ‘Aussies like me are going for India!’

https://twitter.com/GblCtzn_Will/status/1348436121244508160

Another user questioning ‘who’s the culprit then’ further roped in other Australian players Mathew Wade and David Warner, while pointing at Smith’s intent in couple of tweets.

https://twitter.com/middy74g/status/1348428969289392130

https://twitter.com/middy74g/status/1348429882481586176

‘Doesn't matter how many runs you score but you'll remembered for doing such cheap tricks,’ wrote a third.

https://twitter.com/Thilak_Rama/status/1348440217829605379

Another user tagging former Team India opener Virender Sehwag in his tweet asked him if Smith’s actions can be deemed as cheating.

https://twitter.com/imBirju/status/1348458626759856133

Calling out Smith’s misadventures as ‘Brainfade in India, Sandpaper in South Africa’. The user also pointed at ‘scuffing pitch in Australia’, while adding that the Australian performs everywhere.

https://twitter.com/iHitman55/status/1348453566248218626

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