Steve Smith Was Dancing Around The Crease: Darren Gough Slams Australia For Their Cheap Means Against India In The Sydney Test
Updated - 12 Jan 2021, 08:16 PM
Former England fast bowler Darren Gough has called out Australian batting spearhead Steve Smith for ‘blatant cheating’ during the controversial fifth day of the recently concluded Sydney Test.
Steve Smith shrugged off his lean patch with scores of 131 & 81 at his home turf but it is not his masterly knocks but his bizarre and in the words of David Llyod ‘childish’ attempt to scruff up Rishabh Pant’s batting guard in the afternoon session of the last day that became a point of discussion.
Former cricketers like David Lloyd, Virender Sehwag, and Michael Vaughan among others have criticized Steve Smith for his actions and now Darren Gough has joined the bandwagon, where he has labeled the former Aussie captains act as ‘blatant cheating’
‘Now during a break in play, he’s going round and dancing around, scuffing up the pitch and rubbing out the mark with his spikes of the batsman’s marker. ‘That was totally out of order,”Darren Gough was quoted as saying by TALKSport.
People say he’s done nothing wrong, well he has. He’s going onto the pitch and trying to make it worse for the spinners to bowl onto a length. ‘Then he’s rubbing out the markers for the batsmen where he puts his bat. It’s plain cheating in my book,” he added.
"Can't wait to get you to the Gabba"
"Can't wait to get you to India, it will be your last series"
Tim Paine had plenty to say to Ravi Ashwin behind the sticks, but the Indian batsman wasn't fazed ?
He even watched the Aussie keeper shell one the next over ? pic.twitter.com/pmUNhMVDIe
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) January 11, 2021
‘Australia get your act together right now. It’s embarrassing’- Darren Gough
Darren Gough was also critical of Aussie captain Tim Paine, who also found himself in the midst of raging controversy following his expletive-laden verbal altercation with Ravichandran Ashwin in the closing stages of the Sydney Test.
Paine has long been hailed for his efforts in resurrecting the image of Australian cricket following the shambles of Newlands where the sides’ ‘win at all cost’ mentality had come under the spotlight.
Gough feels that Australia was back to their former selves on the final day of the Sydney Test following India’s rearguard action.
“The second one, because they are under pressure, Tim Paine had already dropped a catch, he decided to get stuck into Ashwin. What he didn’t expect was for Ashwin to come back. The words used were ‘wait till we get you to the Gabba’,” Darren Gough said.
“Ashwin responded ‘wait till we get you back to India my old friend’, as he said ‘that will be your last Test match.’ ‘He didn’t like that and that’s when the abuse started and called him a ‘something head’ and no one likes you in your team. I’ve got more Indian friends than you’ve got,” he added.
‘It went on and on and on. Australia are supposed to have got it all in order with this captain Tim Paine. They’ve given him a knighthood basically for what he’s done to this team and made them grow up. ‘They just are dropping back into that zone. You have to keep an eye on this. Australia get your act together right now. It’s embarrassing.’ he added.
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Steve Smith Tim Paine
