The former Pakistan fast bowler, Wasim Akram and also the present bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, is of the view that there are a lot of unseen happenings in the IPL. As per his opinion, the players are actually tampering with the ball which makes it rather hard for the batsmen to see the ball in the later stage of the innings.
Akram further added that he had spotted some of the bowlers rubbing red soil on the ball which reduces its visibility when the batsmen is looking to accelerate. Some of the instances were in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Rajasthan, where Akram has confirmed that he had actually seen this happening just before his own eyes.
On talking with a sports channel, Akram added that, he won’t actually name anyone who have rubbed mud on the ball and tampered with it. If the umpires too are not paying any heed to the tampering, then he doesn’t know who it is. In IPL, the umpires are there to look an eye on such instances which are quite disturbing and not allowed too. One cannot alter the state of the ball with anything, and around the 18th and the 19th over, in the specified places, with red soil, it became difficult for the batsmen to see the ball under the lights and it became hard to view it for striking.
With mud on the ball, the players are trying to either contain the batsmen or are trying to get wickets, it’s simple as that. Wasim however rejected that rubbing mud on the ball would bring the ball in reverse swing. The practice of the spinners running their hands over the mud prior to any bowling simply does not amount to tampering though. It is different and to get a grip on the ball, players do it. However, somebody is sure going crazy by rubbing mud on the ball continuously.
Wasim Akram took over his position as a coach with the franchise at the beginning of this season and is the only Pakistani to be involved in the IPL.