David Warner has voiced new concerns about how Cricket Australia handled recent ball-tampering accusations against India A, which have taken the spotlight away from Australia A’s seven-wicket victory over the weekend.

Warner, who was recently announced as the new captain of Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League (BBL), has been in the news a lot lately. There’s even talk that he might come out of Test retirement to play in this summer’s series against India.

With Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins facing a tough decision on who will open the batting against India, Warner has surprisingly offered to wear his baggy green cap again. This comes as Cricket Australia lifted Warner’s lifetime leadership ban, which was put in place after his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, famously known as ‘Sandpapergate.’

Back in 2018, Warner and Steve Smith were both banned from international and domestic cricket for a year after being caught using sandpaper to tamper with the ball during a match against South Africa.

Recently, India A was accused of tampering with the ball during a match against Australia A. However, Cricket Australia cleared India A of any wrongdoing. Warner criticized Cricket Australia for quickly dismissing the claims and suggested they may have done so to avoid tension ahead of India’s upcoming tour of Australia this summer.

“They brushed it under the rug because India is coming here soon,” Warner said when asked about the incident.

“If the referees think something happened, they should follow up. I think the match referee should be the one answering these questions.”

During the game, umpires changed the old ball for a new one after it appeared to have been tampered with. The Indian players didn’t take it well and got into a heated argument with referee Shawn Craig. India’s wicketkeeper, Ishan Kishan, was overheard calling the decision “stupid,” to which Craig replied that Kishan’s behavior would be reported for dissent. He also pointed out that their actions had forced the ball change.

Despite this, Cricket Australia stood by its decision, stating that the ball was changed because it had deteriorated. Both team captains and managers were informed before the game resumed. No further action was taken.

India A will be hoping to bounce back when they face Australia A again on Thursday in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Australian players like Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas will look to make their mark before Cummins finalizes his squad for the first Test against India on November 22.

Warner emphasized that the match officials should stand by their decisions and that Cricket Australia needs to release a statement clarifying what happened.

He also reminded everyone that he didn’t see any tampering himself.