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Steve Smith Accused Of Cheating Again After Video Shows Him Removing Rishabh Pant's Guard Marks

Steve Smith Accused Of Cheating Again After Video Shows Him Removing Rishabh Pant's Guard Marks

It's not the best look for the former Australian captain.

Max Sherry

Max Sherry

Steve Smith has come under fire yet again with some cricket fans accusing him of cheating during Australia's Test match against India.

Video emerged online of the former Australian captain trying to remove Rishabh Pant's batting guard marks while play was paused in the third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

And unsurprisingly, the damning evidence doesn't sit well with some of cricket's biggest figures.

Smith scored a ton in Australia's first innings.
PA

In a clip that surfaced on social media, you can see Smith casually stroll onto the crease at the end of an over - not the brightest idea in the first place.

And while his fellow fielders are moving positions, the footage from the stumps shows Smith scuffing Indian batsman Pant's guard on the wicket.

Without realising what had just happened, Pant then walks back to his crease and re-marks his guard with the help of the umpire.

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to share the clip.

"Tried all tricks including Steve Smith trying to remove Pant's batting guard marks from the crease," he said in the caption.

"But I am so so proud of the effort of the Indian team today"

The video itself raked up almost 3 million views and gathered up over 123,000 likes - mostly from cricket fans of other countries who were outraged at what they'd just witnessed.

And it didn't take too long for other cricket greats to pile in too.

Rishabh Pant was eventually dismissed by Nathan Lyon.
PA

Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan tweeted: "This is very very poor from Steve Smith!!"

While former Australian spinner Brad Hogg added: "Batsman's area. Not his space to mark!"

But it was former England bowler Darren Gough who perhaps supplied the most damning assessment of Smith's alleged "tactics".

"You've got Steve Smith, who showed us all these tears and sorrow just a few years ago when he got done for sandpaper on the ball," Gough told talkSPORT.

"Well now during a break in play between overs he's dancing around and scuffing up the pitch and rubbing out the marks with his spikes, the batsman's marker.

"That was totally out of order.

"People say he's done nothing wrong - well he has! He's going onto the pitch... and rubbing out the markers the batsman has put on to (signal) where he puts his bat.

"It's plain cheating in my book."

This latest act comes after Aussie fan favourite Smith became embroiled in one of the biggest cheating scandals the sport has ever seen.

Back in 2018, the Australian cricket team were involved in a ball-tampering incident, which later became known as the 'Sandpapergate scandal'.

Cameron Bancroft and David Warner were both handed lengthy suspensions for their roles, but Smith was also stripped of the captaincy too.

Not only was he hit with a massive ban, but Smith also copped huge backlash from fans and the media for not nipping the cheating in the bud as the team's captain.

But almost three years on, and Smith has regained the trust of the Australian cricket fans and is still widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.

Which makes this latest act against India even more confusing.

As for the series itself, it's currently locked at one win a piece heading into the fourth and final Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.

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Topics: Aussie, Cricket, Steve Smith, Cricket News, Australia,