Vernon Philander: “Waking up this morning to a lot of twitter craziness as my [account] got hacked and someone posted a nice little article on my behalf”
South Africa pace bowler Vernon Philander has claimed that his Twitter account was hacked after a post, which lashed out at Australia captain Steve Smith, appeared on Wednesday night.
Just prior to midnight in South Africa, a post appeared on Philander’s account, which said Smith was “just as guilty” as South Africa pace bowler Kagiso Rabada when they made shoulder-to-shoulder contact during the second Test in Port Elizabeth.
“Haven’t really seen the footage of this incident but by the looks of this…Steve Smith gave KG the shoulder. He could have avoided any contact but to me he is just as guilty. Trying some football skills to get a penalty??? Pity he didn’t dive to top it off,” the tweet said.
However, upon waking up and seeing the tweet, Philander said: “Good morning all my tweeps. Waking up this morning to a lot of twitter craziness as my [account] got hacked and someone posted a nice little article on my behalf. Sorry for all the drama or entertainment caused by the looks of it. Have a great day all.”
Good morning all my tweeps. Waking up this morning to alot of twitter craziness as my acc got hacked and someone posted a nice little article on my behalf. Sorry for all the drama or entertainment caused by the looks of it. Have a great day all.
— Vernon Philander (@VDP_24) March 15, 2018
Rabada was banned for the remainder of the ongoing Test series against Australia for the incident with Smith and for his celebration after dismissing opening batsman and vice-captain David Warner. However, he has appealed against the suspension.