Australian star batsman Steve Smith is controversy’s favorite child and seems like he could find himself in a big controversy once again for allegedly trying to remove the guard mark of Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on day-5 of the ongoing third Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
A shocking video has been going viral on social media where he can be seen removing Rishabh Pant’s guard mark.
Well, the incident took place after drinks break in the second session of the fifth day. Soon after the break, Smith went to the crease for shadow-batting before proceeding to remove the guard mark of Rishabh Pant. However, he made sure to mark his guard again after the drinks break.
Smith’s action was followed by Rishabh Pant’s stunning performance. The Indian keeper-batsman slammed 97 off 118 balls, with the help of 12 fours and 3 sixes.
Here, watch the video:
Australia’s Steve Smith shadow-batted as he came to the crease after the drinks break, and proceeded to remove Rishabh Pant’s guard marks.
#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/YrXrh3UlKl
— Manoj Singh Negi (@Manoj__negi) January 11, 2021
Talking about the game, team India was on 275 runs for 5 at the time of writing this report. India is chasing a whopping target of 407 runs to take an unassailable lead in the series.
As we mentioned, this isn’t the first time Steve Smith is indulged in a controversy. It was first in 2017 when the Indian skipper Virat Kohli had stopped almost called Smith a cheater when he tried to take help from the dressing room while going for a DRS review during the Bengaluru Test. Smith was caught red-handed by the Indian cricket team, who complained about the same to the umpire. Virat Kohli had later lashed out at him in the press conference.
In 2018, Smith was involved in a much-bigger controversy – ‘the sandpaper gate’. Following the controversy, Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for a year by Cricket Australia.
