"A still picture can make things look a damn sight worse" - Michael Vaughan defends England over ball-tampering accusations

Michael Vaughan has defended England over the raging ball-tampering accusations against a couple of players who were seen allegedly using their shoe-spikes on top of the ball during the Lord's Test.

The former captain said the whole incident didn't look deliberate to him and it was instead a case of a still shot being exaggerated and made "a damn sight worse" by social media. He also joked that even if it was intentional, England didn't do a good job as there was no effect on the ball.

"You know what? I didn't even see it. I didn't even notice that someone had trodded on the ball. Sometimes, a still picture can make things look a damn sight worse. I'd also say if England did try to do it, it didn't work because the ball didn't move an inch, they aren't very good at it. I don't think there was anything like that, I went to see the coverage afterwards to make sure I was studying to see if England had tried to really screw with the ball, I didn't they had but obviously a still shot picture and then it goes and escalates across the media, never looks great," Michael Vaughan said in an interaction with Cricbuzz on Monday.

Michael Vaughan added:

"The batting coach of India (Vikram Rathour) came out and said India didn't have any issues with it. That's why social media can be a little bit precarious, it can make a picture look a bit worse than actually what happened in that given moment."

Yeh kya ho raha hai. Is it ball tampering by Eng ya covid preventive measures 😀 pic.twitter.com/RcL4I2VJsC

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 15, 2021

Rathour had said in a press conference that is wasn't "deliberate" and that Team India aren't too fussed about it.

What is the whole ball-tampering issue Michael Vaughan is talking about?

What’s is this Ball Tampering Umpires and Refree Sleeping ?#IndvsEng #Balltempering @sachin_rt @cricketaakash @WasimJaffer14 @YUVSTRONG12 @imVkohli @BCCI @ICC @ECB_cricket pic.twitter.com/owOwOlkfiX

— Prashant Rathore (@HonestPrashant) August 15, 2021

The controversial issue that Michael Vaughan discussed above exploded during the 35th over of India's second innings at Lord's.

A video of two players - whose faces weren't captured - was widely shared on social media where the ball was seen stamped on and rolled around the ground. India's former opening pair Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra were the first to question "ball-tampering" through their Twitter handles.

However, so far, the issue hasn't escalated officially because India didn't put up any complaints to the match referee Chris Broad and the ball didn't change either.