Former England captain Michael Vaughan slammed Australian batsman Steve Smith who was seen scuffing up the area around the batting crease on the final day of the third Test against India in Sydney.
Smith’s act was caught on the stump camera and soon the video went viral on social media. Smith appeared to be using his feet to scuff the marks left by wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. It forced the batsman to take his guard all over again.
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag also shared the video clip on his Twitter handle and wrote that Smith tried every trick, including scuffing the guard but nothing worked.
Replying to that post, Vaughan tweeted, “This is very very poor from Steve Smith.”
Besides criticising Smith for his act, Vaughan also slammed Tim Paine for sledging Ashwin during India’s chase. In another tweet, the former English skipper said that the Australian captain had never crossed the ‘line of negativity’ before but what he did on the final day of the Sydney was ‘very very poor’.
{{/usCountry}}Besides criticising Smith for his act, Vaughan also slammed Tim Paine for sledging Ashwin during India’s chase. In another tweet, the former English skipper said that the Australian captain had never crossed the ‘line of negativity’ before but what he did on the final day of the Sydney was ‘very very poor’.
{{/usCountry}}“Let’s be honest the captain of Australia since sandpaper gate has led this team with great distinction, attitude & never once has he crossed the line of negativity in my eyes, but today his language behind the stumps & sledging today was back to the old days !! Very very poor,” wrote Vaughan.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led team India put up a terrific show against Australia on Monday to eke out a draw. Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari batted out 258 balls to help India walk away with an epic draw against Australia and head into the final Test at the Gabba, with the series leveled at 1-1.