Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was accused of ball tampering by Australian media on Thursday during the ongoing first Test in Nagpur.

Video footage of the incident went viral after Jadeja was seen rubbing a substance on his finger, which made the viewers believe that he was involved in ball tampering.

In the video, Jadeja was spotted taking a substance off the back of teammate Mohammed Siraj's palm with his right hand. He then rubbed the substance on to the index finger of his left hand just before getting into his delivery stride.

Despite having the ball in his hands, Jadeja was not seen rubbing anything on the ball itself.

The match referee Andy Pycroft also sought an explanation from the Indian team management regarding the incident. However, no charge was laid against the spinner.

The allegations were levelled when Australia had reached 120-5 in their first innings, with Jadeja having already bagged the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw and Steven Smith.

However, Indian team management told AFP that Jadeja applied a pain-relief cream to his index finger and nothing untoward had taken place.

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke came forward to talk about the viral video. He opined that it would have been better if Jadeja had handed the ball to the umpire before applying anything to his finger. The video was shown to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Jadeja after the end of the day’s play and it was made clear that he was applying a pain relief ointment on his sore finger.

"He’s bowling so much that he’s probably got a blister or cut on that finger. What he should have done there, he should have given the ball to the umpire and stand in front of the umpire while he was putting it on his finger," Clarke was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.

"I don’t look at that and think it’s a thing. I just wish he didn’t have the ball in his hand. If he chucks the ball to the umpire and does that I don’t think there’s any comment made about that. It’s just a perception. I don’t think there’s anything to it. I could be 100 percent wrong," he added.