Watch: Mayank Agarwal Uses Sweat On Shardul Thakur's Forearm To Shine Ball

Indian opener, Mayank Agarwal was involved in a non-controversial incident when he used sweat from pacer Shardul Thakur’s forearm to shine the ball. The incident took place on the fourth day of the ongoing Test match between India and Australia in Brisbane.

During the second session on Day 4 at the Gabba, at the end of the 46th over, Thakur’s 11th of the innings with Australia’s score 161/4, Agarwal quickly came to the bowler and rubbed the ball on his forearm. The opener did that in order to get the ball to shine as much as possible to aid any reverse swing available.

Since cricket resumed in the pandemic era, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned the usage of saliva on the ball to prevent the spread of the covid-19 virus. Hence, fielders and bowlers are left to using only their sweat to shine the ball.

The Twitter handle @cricketcomau uploaded a GIF of the same. Fans, mostly non-Australians looked at the funny side of it and took a dig at the Australians reminding them of the Sandpaper Gate incident – Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, and Steve Smith were banned for using sandpaper on the ball to help their bowlers generate reverse swing in Cape Town in 2018.

Modern-day shining techniques ?

Live #AUSvIND: https://t.co/IzttOVL3j4 pic.twitter.com/enApdJ7MTW

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 18, 2021

Shardul Thakur picks three wickets in Australia’s second innings by Tea

Shardul Thakur is having a dream Test at the Gabba – if not for injuries he wouldn’t have got the chance. With injuries to 5 frontline bowlers, and after the debut of 3 youngsters, Shardul was picked for the last Test of the series – and he has made people take notice of him.

Shardul, who limped off the field after bowling 10 balls on his debut in 2018, picked 3 wickets in Australia’s first innings before scalping three more in the second innings by Tea on Day 4. He has bowled with heart, passion, and aggression – whether he plays another Test or not, his contributions at the Gabba will not be forgotten.

In between, he scored 67 runs in India’s first innings and staged a fighting 123-run stand with Washington Sundar – Thakur was the highest scorer of the team and kept India in the game.

As the series stands level after three Tests, Australia needs a victory at the Gabba to take the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; otherwise, India would retain it.

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