Zampa was using hand warmers, Finch clarifies on ball-tampering murmurs
London: Australia captain Aaron Finch said Adam Zampa was merely using hand-warmers in his pocket during the World Cup match against India, rejecting social media speculation that the leg-spinner might have been tampering with the ball.
A few pictures of Zampa showed him putting his hand in his pocket just before a delivery and social media was abuzz with talk of ball tampering.
With the last year's scandal which led to bans on Steve Smith David Warner still casting a shadow on the Aussies, skipper Finch had to clarify after his team's 36-run loss to India.
"I haven't seen the photos, but I know that he has hand warmers in his pocket. He has them every single game he plays. I honestly haven't seen them, so I can't comment too much on it. But I know for a fact that he has hand warmers every game," Finch told mediapersons.
Zampa, who was a revelation on Australia's limited-overs tour of India, was taken to task by the Indian openers and was out of the attack after giving away 50 runs in six overs.
"I think he just started his spell poorly today, which gave them an opportunity to get on top of him, and when you're bowling to world-class players and they get on top of you early, it can be quite hard to come back," Finch defended the 27-year-old.
The fact that other bowlers couldn't get a breakthrough also affected his performance, felt Finch.
"He never had the chance to really bowl at a new batter a hell of a lot, which probably was the difference in the Indian series where we managed to get some wickets up front and there would be an opportunity that he could really go to work on a new batter," he explained.
Finch wants the India game to be treated as one bad day in office for Zampa.
"Today that just didn't happen, and as a leg-spinner, it's an incredibly tough craft. It's the hardest thing to do in the game. So you can forgive him for not having his best day out once every now and then.
"He's been exceptional for us for quite a long time now, since he's come back into the side. So yeah, I am not concerned about that.
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Nagpur explosives factory blast: Death toll rises to 19
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Nagpur (PTI): The death toll in the Nagpur explosives company blast has gone up to 19 after one more person succumbed, police said on Monday.
Twenty-three other injured workers were undergoing treatment in hospitals here, a police official said.
The toll in the blast at the SBL Energy Limited factory on Sunday has risen to 19 with the death of one more worker, he said.
A high-level meeting chaired by Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was underway at the divisional commissionerate here to deliberate and take stock of the incident that took place on Sunday.
Senior officials from various departments, local legislators and other leaders were present in the meeting.
The police have arrested nine directors of SBL Energy Limited, where the blast took place on Sunday morning, officials said.
The Kalmeshwar police here have registered a case against 21 directors and shareholders of the company under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said.
The explosion occurred at the detonator packing unit of SBL Energy Limited, a mining and industrial explosives manufacturer, at Raulgaon in Katol tehsil of Nagpur district.
The bodies were charred beyond recognition, and samples of the family members were being taken for DNA testing to ascertain the identities of the deceased, police said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion.
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