Bancroft puts Australia in the middle of a ball tampering controversy

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Cape Town, March 24: Opener Cameron Bancroft on Saturday (March 24) put Australia in the middle of a ball tampering controversy during the third Test against Australia here.

During the second session of the third day's play, umpires approached Bancroft to know about the object with which he was scrubbing the ball. The TV cameras too caught the action and South Africa captain Faf du Plessis gestured the same to his on-field colleagues - Aiden Markram and AB de Villiers.

After a short conflab, on field umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth cooled the episode down without imposing any immediate penalty - the statutory five runs on the fielding side for trying to reshape the ball illegally. Perhaps, more developments are on our way soon.

Earlier, the footage showed Bancroft seemingly rubbing the rough side of the ball, the opposite side to which a fielder would usually be trying to shine on his trousers - permitted under the ICC playing conditions.