Ravi Jadeja fined by ICC for ointment on finger but cleared of ball tampering
Ravi Jadeja has been fined for failing to notify umpires he was applying ointment to a sore finger during India’s first Test against Australia.
But the International Cricket Council cleared the allrounder of tampering with the ball, after the incident sparked international debate.
Jadeja found himself caught up in a fierce debate after broadcast vision captured him taking something out of teammate Mohammed Siraj’s hand during day one in Nagpur on Thursday.
After the exchange with Siraj, Jadeja then rubbed his hands and left index finger around the ball, smeared with what he later explained was a soothing cream.
Jadeja was found to have breached the ICC’s code of conduct and was fined 25% of his match fee.
The 34-year-old admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee, Andy Pycroft.
“In reaching his decision to sanction the player along with the Level 1 sanction he imposed, the match referee was satisfied that the cream was applied to the finger purely for medical purposes,” an ICC statement said.
“The cream was not applied as an artificial substance to the ball and consequently, it did not change the condition of the ball, which would have been in breach of clause 41.3 of the ICC playing conditions.”
Jadeja, India captain Rohit Sharma and the team’s manager were on Thursday night shown a clip of the incident, which took place when Australia were 5-120.
It is not uncommon for spinners to suffer calluses from gripping the ball, especially after not playing regularly.
“The India team management had explained that the finger spinner was applying the cream to a swelling on the index finger of his bowling hand,” the ICC statement said.
“This was done without asking for permission from the on-field umpires.”
Debate about the incident ignited when former Australia captain Tim Paine replied to a Twitter user on Thursday asking what he thought of the footage with the word “interesting”.
Clips of the incident went viral on social media, with former England captain Michael Vaughan also having a say.
“What is it he is putting on his spinning finger? Never ever seen this …”, Vaughan wrote on Twitter.
Michael Clarke, another former Australia Test captain, said he thought Jadeja was probably applying vaseline to protect an injured finger, but could have avoided any debate by doing so in front of the umpire.
“He’s bowling so much so he’s probably got a blister or cut on that finger,” Clarke said on Sky Sports Radio. “What he should have done there, he should have given the ball to the umpire and stand in front of the umpire while he was putting it on his finger.
“I don’t look at that and think it’s a thing. I just wish he didn’t have the ball in his hand. If he chucks the ball to the umpire and does that I don’t think there’s any comment made about that. It’s just the perception.
“I don’t think there’s anything to it. I could be 100% wrong.”
Jadeja proved to be the key man during India’s innings and 132-run smashing of Australia, starring with seven wickets for the match and hitting 70 to put India in the box seat to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.