Much has been spoken lately about Faf du Plessis’ ball-tampering controversy – "mint-gate” which has caused much furore in world cricket, in particular, with the Australian media.
In light of recent events, former England skipper Michael Vaughan decided to pitch in with his support for the South African skipper through a scientific experiment with the aim of proving that rubbing a ball with mint saliva had no effect on its ability to swing.
Vaughan, who is in India donning journalism duties for the ongoing Test series between India and England, conducted a comical experiment just to prove du Plessis was not guilty. In the video that was posted on Twitter, Vaughan was seen bowling a few deliveries with help from a few Indian volunteers.
Also read: Faf du Plessis caught shining the ball with mint saliva in the second Test against Australia
Interestingly, the former skipper chose to conduct his mint saliva experiment on fruits rather than the red kookaburra ball. He used an orange, an apple and a lemon to rub the mint saliva on and asked the participants to bowl with them.
The first participant was given an orange rubbed with mint saliva and was asked to bowl with the aim of hitting a distant tree. The man let one go and Vaughan expressed his displeasure on not witnessing the orange show any movement in the air. The next two participants were given an apple and a lemon respectively and were asked to do the same. The result - the fruits didn't show any movement at all.
While the video showed Vaughan in the funny scheme of things, the former skipper cheekily took a dig at the Australians towards the end. He went on to say, "Australia needs to look in the mirror and work a bit on their technique." He also went on to say that Australia's struggle wasn't because of the "mint-gate" issue and claimed that they should be concentrating more on their batting technique.
Faf du Plessis was charged by the ICC for alleged ball tampering during the second Test match at Hobart. The ICC decided to charge him based on video footage showing him shining the ball using his saliva with a lolly in his mouth.
Though the right-hander has been consistently denying the accusation, some of the Australian tabloids claimed that the Protea batsman deliberately used the mint saliva to ensure that the ball swung to a greater effect. They backed their statement by saying that immediately after du Plessis had shined the ball with his saliva, Australia went on to lose two wickets in the span of just four balls.
Also read: Cricket South Africa likely to appeal Faf Du Plessis guilty verdict
Ever since du Plessis was charged by the ICC, several cricketers have come forward to show their support for the 32-year-old stating that shining the ball with mint saliva had no effect on the ball's swinging nature.
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