T20 World Cup 2024: Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf accused of 'ball tampering' in embarrassing defeat to USA

It was an embarrassing dayfor Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday (June 6) after they suffered adefeat to co-hosts USA in the Super Over. The match played in Dallas went down in the history books as one of the biggest upsets in the competition.However, that embarrassment could reach another level as Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf is accused of ball tampering by USA’s Rusty Theron.

Theron accuses Rauf of ball tampering

Theron taking to microblogging siteX (formerly Twitter) wrote: "@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren't scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that's just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumbnail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA."

Theron, a veteran in USA cricket accused Rauf of tempering the ball having observed the Pakistan bowler use his nails to change the dimension of the seam. However, the accusations are yet to be investigated and there was no official word from the ICC. Now that the incident is in the limelight it will be interesting to see whether the ICC will take any action against the player before the high-profile contest against India on Sunday.

What happened in the match?

Defending 159 against the USA, Pakistan’s star-studded bowling line-up could not shut the co-host's batting. USA needing five runs of the final ball of their innings scored a four taking the match to Super Over. The match was then settled in the Super Over where Mohammad Amir gave away eight runs in extra while USA defended 18.

During the initial 20 overs, a combined team effort saw the USA register a win as Indian-origin skipper Monank Patel scored 50 runs while Andries Gous (35 off 26) and Aaron Jones (unbeaten 36) made valuable additions.

Pakistan’s defeat to the USA has now seen them attract wide criticism from former players and could face group-stage elimination if the results go against them. They are next in action on Sunday when they take on India in a high-voltage clash in New York.