Bopara caught tampering with the ball; Sylhet penalised five runs

Sylhet Sunrisers' English all-rounder Ravi Bopara was caught tampering with the ball while bowling against Khulna Tigers during the night game of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League at the Sylhet International Stadium on Monday.

During the ninth over of the Khulna innings, Bopara, who took over captaincy from Mosaddek Hossain on the eve of the match, was seen tampering with the ball with his fingernails and the act was caught on TV. The on-field umpires immediately noticed and changed the ball while penalising Sylhet with five runs for the offense.

It was the first incident where umpires gave penalty runs to a side for ball-tampering in the history of the BPL.

Despite being dropped in the previous game following below-par performances in the first four games, Bopara was surprisingly handed captaincy of Sylhet ahead of the match.