Faf du Plessis surprised by ICC's decision

What’s the story?

South African skipper, Faf du Plessis, expressed his surprise over the International Cricket Council’s decision regarding the ‘reviewgate’ controversy. ICC did not to impose any charge on Steve Smith following the Bengaluru Test.

“I was surprised that no one was charged purely from the reason what I went through for something I feel was a lot smaller and a lot less, whatever you want to call it. So yes, surprised with that. ICC’s response to the incident was different. Maybe it’s just because I speak on from a personal point of view and I felt that I was treated very harsh, when you see something like that, you hope that it would be exactly the same,” said du Plessis, when asked about his take on the incident.

In case you didn’t know...

Australian skipper, Steve Smith, was caught looking at the dressing room for an indication whether to go for a review or not after he was given out LBW by the umpire off an Umesh Yadav delivery. Smith, though, who struggled to get the DRS right in the second Test, was asked to leave for not having called for the review early enough and for his act of ‘cheating’.

Later that evening, the Aussie skipper admitted that he had a brain fade, stating that his actions were wrong.

The heart of the matter

Du Plessis, on the other hand, had meddled with the ball during South Africa’s second Test against Australia in 2016. He was fined 100 percent of his match fee and received three demerit points for a Level 2 breach of the ICC code of conduct.

Meanwhile, the fact that the ICC have taken no action against Smith for his antics has taken the Proteas captain by surprise. The decision by the ICC left him shocked and displeased.

Coming to the incident itself, the BCCI lodged an official level 2 charge against Smith but the board later withdrew the complaint after the ICC encouraged them to take it back as such a charge is impossible to prove. The council instead insisted that the two boards should come together and issued a joint statement to smother the issue.

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Sportskeeda’s Take

The difference in the handling of the cases against Smith and du Plessis is a matter of concern. ICC must make sure they remain unbiased. On the other hand, Smith has accepted his mistake and this can be seen as a good gesture going forward.