Mister 360 AB De Villiers recently expressed his disappointment over the harsh punishment handed out to Steve Smith and David Warner by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). The legendary South African batsman has termed the cricket board’s reaction as harsh and said that he felt sorry for the duo.
Earlier in the year, Australian opener Cameron Bancroft was found altering the condition of the ball with a sandpaper to help with the reverse swing. Later it was revealed that the move was planned by David Warner and Bancroft carried it out with Steve Smith being party to it. The trio was punished by ACB.
At that time, AB De Villiers was in the opposite camp and was a witness of the proceedings. South Africa won the Test series by bashing mentally broken Australia in the fourth Test. After the completion of the series, AB De Villiers has expressed his opinion on the whole matter. He commented that he feels Smith has been treated harshly and believes the entire ball-tampering fiasco was overblown.
ALSO READ: Smith-Warner-Bancroft Snubbed From Australia’s Annual Contract
The whole Australia in South Africa tour was heated affair which began from the first Test itself. There were a lot many controversies with both teams involved. ABD himself was involved in one Nathan Lyon dropped the ball near ABD when he was run-out. There was the Warner-De Kock exchange on the pavilion staircase as well. Kagiso Rabada was in the news for his anger.
Commenting on the way trio was treated, De Villiers said the whole thing was “blown up massively”. It’s why he felt sorry for Smith. “Yes it is a serious matter but it was taken to a level where it really hurt them individually and I felt sorry for them,” De Villiers told The Guardian of the banned trio.
ALSO READ: IPL 2018: BCCI Didn’t Allow David Warner To Come To India And Support SRH
ABD further added, “Especially Smith, who stood up thinking he was doing the right thing by his players. The way he was punished was harsh. Wrong is wrong. Guys try to find a way to get the ball to reverse but you have to stay in the laws. Sandpaper? [he chuckles] Sheesh, I don’t know. I have it in my bag but that’s for cleaning my bat.”
He said he has no complaints about the heated atmosphere in which the series was played and believes that’s exactly how test cricket should be played.“It was rough but it was the best series I have been a part of. There were scandals that weren’t called for but cricket-wise, the way we dominated was, well, I haven’t been part of a team that has done that to them.
ALSO READ: David Warner Also Decides Not To Challenge CA’s Sanctions
“It was seriously tough cricket but that’s how Tests should be played. There was all this talk about ‘the line’ and you don’t want to get too personal. But letting a player know there is a series on the line and he is about to lose it for his country, that is part of the game. That’s what we did.
“I felt they got quite personal. Although we had an instance in Durban where one of our players [De Kock] did too … that’s a long story. But overall, I loved the toughness of the cricket played. It’s just the rest that was uncalled for.”
