Amla finds no pleasure in Australian team’s woes

Hashim Amla gets angry about as often as there is a supermoon, but when he addressed the media in defense of his captain Faf du Plessis on Friday, his answers teetered on the tetchy. In response to questions about du Plessis’ alleged ball-tampering, Amla had said the squad believed the captain had done “absolutely nothing wrong”, that they all occasionally took field with mouthfuls of something, and asked whether he should brush his teeth after every break in play.

Now, the third Test in Adelaide, a dead-rubber that was supposed to hold nothing more than novelty-value as South Africa’s first day-nighter, is now the centre of several controversies. Chief among them is whether du Plessis’ ball-tampering hearing will take place before the game and whether that could put his place in doubt.

But anyone hoping that Amla’s irritation over the episode would spill over into an ego-trip on the misfortunes that have befallen the opposition, was left disappointed.

As soon as the question of Australia came up, Amla switched from aggrieved to gracious and confirmed he took no pleasure from the opposition’s pain. “I’ve got a lot of joy enjoying my team-mates and the position we are in but I take no gratification from the difficulties of others,” Amla said. “We are really happy …

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