The ball-tampering controversy has garnered reactions from all sections. Cricket lovers, ex-players, ex-cricketers are expressing their opinions on the ball-tampering issue. A while ago in an interview, ย Michael Clarke said that Steve Smith needs to be forgiven for the ball-tampering issue.

Now, this definitely didnโ€™t go down well with a lot of cricket lovers. Bollywood singer Farhan Akhtar also was not quite impressed with the statement and he took to Twitter to slam the Michael Clarke for the statement.

He wrote, โ€œMichael Clarke says Smith should be forgiven because heโ€™s a great guy with a heart of gold... unlike all the opposing team members the Aussies have cheered being banned.!ย  ๐Ÿ™„๐Ÿ”ซ#AussieCheats.โ€

Followingย ball-tamperingย scandal during the third day's play of South Africa vs Australia, Steve Smith has been handed a one-match suspension and fined 100 percent of his match fee by ICC. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson laid the charge against Smith under to Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which prohibits to 'all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the gameโ€™. Apart from Smith, Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has been fined 75 percent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

Apart from this, Steve Smith has also stepped down from Rajasthan Royals and Ajinkya Rahane has stepped into his shoes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2018 05:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).