Faf du Plessis’s ball-tampering during the final Pakistan vs South Africa Test made sure that this series would have its own USP. The fans and pundits are feeling that the ‘professional and respectable’ image of the South African cricket team is hindered. But this view coexists with one that states Faf was fined because he got caught while tampering the ball and not merely because he tampered the ball.

It is common sense that getting naughty with a cricket ball helps bowlers’ wicket tally. But that’s not the only aspect where ball-tampering has an impact. It can outsell Harry Potter series and has potential to be an unconventional tool for world peace. It would also challenge the vague Spirit of Cricket and could distract BCCI critics for the time being.

Harry Potter is beaten

Nasser Hussain believes that team comes together in times of crisis. If Hussain’s idea is taken seriously, then Faf’s ball-tampering would farther the bonding in the South African dressing room. Alternatively, there can be those who dispel Hussain’s belief and consider it to be more fictional than real. For them, ball-tampering (crisis) and unification can be a perfect subject matter to write a book; preferably a fiction. We are currently in a season of interesting cricket books. Hence, it fuels the publisher’s dream to outsell the entire Harry Potter series with this new fiction.

World Peace

The best aspect of ball tampering is that it does not differentiate between batsmen and bowlers. It does not qualify or disqualify a player on the basis of his nationality either. In a true sense of a term globalisation, ball-tampering welcomes players across countries to practice the act. Additionally, ball-tampering does not discriminate players on the basis of colour. With White vs Black debate still prevailing in cricket, ball-tampering can be the potential solution to make it redundant. By vanishing the discriminations on the grounds of colour and nationality, ball-tampering can become a vehicle for world peace.

Spirit of Cricket challenged

There are examples of Dravid and of few more who swear by 'work hard and long' to succeed. But ball-tampering is an alternative for those who want to hit the headlines in quick time. For them, ball-tampering can be an attractive option. The voices supporting sanity and spirit of the game would condemn such behaviour. But the spirit is still very vague and tampering has a clear-cut definition. Hence, making it is easy to follow by anyone. With we being always told to follow well-defined goals, the illusionary spirit of cricket gets beaten once again.

Relieves BCCI for the time being

With ball-tampering around, it gives BCCI-haters something else to chew upon. In a way, it would awaken the critics to the fact that BCCI can’t tamper with every single occurring in world cricket. The moralist may continue to dwell about how unethical ball tampering is for the game and how dangerous its aftermaths are. But that, for the time being would keep the critics busy and helping BCCI to breathe easy.