India A cleared of ball tampering, dissent charges during Australia A match

India A was accused of ball tampering during their defeat to Australia A in the first unofficial Test in Mackay on Sunday and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan was warned by umpire on showing dissent to ball change. However, India A will not face any charges, both for ball tampering or display of dissent by their player.

Day four of the match, as per Wisden, started on a controversial note as umpire Shawn Craig changed the ball India A was bowling with, saying that it had been tampered with, saying as quoted by Wisden during the broadcast, "When you scratch it, we change the ball. No more discussion, let us play." However, Ishan protested against the move heavily, saying from behind the stump mic, "So we are gonna play with this ball? That is a very stupid decision."

Craig immediately warned Ishan that he would face dissent charges, saying, "Excuse me, you will be on report for dissent, that is inappropriate behaviour." After the match, Cricket Australia released a statement saying that ball was not tampered with and rather changed "due to deterioration" and nobody would face any action, including Ishan for dissent. Notably, had the ball been changed due to tampering, as it seemed to the umpire initally, India would have faced a five-run penalty as per law 41.3.4, but they did not face it.

Article 2.15 of Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel deals with changing the condition of the ball and states that "the Team Captain of the offending side may breach this Article 2.15 in the event that the Player or Player Support Personnel involved in the breach are not able to be identified, or where the breach was planned or systematic to the extent that the Team Captain either knew, or ought to have known, that the breach was occurring."

This means if player who changed the condition of the ball could not be identified, India A skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad would have considered to face a Level 3 offence and receive anywhere between four to 12 suspension points. Kishan has played 61 international matches for India, including two Tests but he is not in their current scheme of things for white-ball cricket and the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting from November 22 with first Test at Perth.

Australia A won the toss and elected to field first. India A was bundled out for just 107 runs in their first innings. Devdutt Padikkal (36 in 77 balls, with two fours) and Sai Sudharsan (21 in 35 balls, with a boundary) and Navdeep Saini (23 in 42 balls, with two fours and a six) played some crucial knocks for India, that helped them cross double figures as they were 86/9 at one point.

Brendan Doggett (6/15) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia A in 11 overs. Jordan Buckingham got two wickets while Todd Murphy and Fergus O'Neill got one wicket each. In their first innings, Australia was skittled out for just 195 runs, giving them a lead of 88 runs. McSweeney (39 in 131 balls, with four boundaries), Beau Webster (33 in 44 balls, with five fours) and Cooper Connolly (37 in 60 balls, with five fours) played some important knocks that pushed Australia towards a lead.

Mukesh Kumar (6/46) and Prasidh Krishna (3/43) troubled the Aussie bowlers with their pace. India was 30/2 in their second innings, but a double century partnership between Sai Sudharsan (103 in 200 balls, with nine fours) and Padikkal (88 in 199 balls, with six fours) pushed India to a massive lead. Ishan Kishan played a solid knock of 32 in 58 balls, with three fours and two sixes.

India was bundled out for 312 runs, giving them a lead of 224 runs. Indian bowlers troubled Australia early on, reducing them to 85/3. McSweeney (88 in 178 balls, with nine fours) and Webster (61 in 117 balls, with four boundaries) put on a big partnership, helping Australia secure a seven-wicket win. The second first-class match begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday. (ANI)