Australian captain Aaron Finch refused to speculate about suggestions that leg-spinner Adam Zampa illegally tampered with the ball during Australia’s 36-run World Cup defeat to India at The Oval in London on Sunday.

Footage of Zampa grasping an unidentified object during India’s innings was broadcast – and soon piqued the interest of viewers on social media.

‘I haven’t seen the photos. I know he has hand warmers in his pockets like every game, and uses them,’ said Finch.

‘I honestly haven’t seen the images, so I can’t comment too much on it.’

Batsmen David Warner and Steven Smith, who recently returned from a 12-month ban from international cricket for ball-tampering during Australia’s Test tour of South Africa last year, struck half-centuries in Sunday’s defeat.

Warner was particularly slow en route to 56 from 84 deliveries. This was the second time in this World Cup that the hard-hitting left-hander has taken more than 70 balls to reach 50. The first was against Afghanistan.

‘They bowled really well to him early, and I think particularly playing on a used wicket again for our second time in three games played a little bit of a part in that. Their spinners probably had a bigger impact than what ours did. Well, they did have a bigger impact than what our spinners did, through the middle overs in particular, where the ball was just starting to hold up,’ added Finch.

Photo: Getty Images