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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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
