'Are we just going to pretend': Pakistan pacer accused of ball tampering with evidence by former South Africa star

The Pakistan team suffered an embarrassing defeat last night in their T20 World Cup 2024 opener against co-hosts USA. It was a nail-biting contest that went down to the Super Over, where USA won the battle of nerves to register a historic win. 

However, rubbing salt on Pakistan's wounds, former South Africa cricketer and current member of the USA team Rusty Theron made a strong allegation against the Men in Green. 

Theron went on to blame Pakistan and in particular, pacer Haris Rauf for ball tampering. 

Theron took to his social media account on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren't scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that's just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumbnail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA.”

@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren't scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that's just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumb nail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA

— Rusty Theron (@RustyTheron) June 6, 2024

Why was Haris Rauf accused of ball tampering?

What had happened was Pakistan replaced the ball before the start of the 13th over, with the home team batting on 94 for one. USA maintained their momentum, with captain Monank Patel hitting Shaheen Afridi for a four and a six on consecutive deliveries in the over. However, Haris Rauf then dismissed Andries Gous on the first ball of the next over, which showed a hint of reverse swing as it struck the top of off stump on a good length.

Shortly after this dismissal, Theron posted on X, bringing it to the ICC's attention.

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He accused Haris of scratching the newly changed ball with his fingernail, which he believed caused the reverse swing.

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