The South African captain faced media on Wednesday after he was found guilty of the offence and subsequently fined his match fee by the ICC at a hearing on Tuesday.

Du Plessis was shown via game footage to have rubbed saliva on the ball while chewing a mint.

“It is never nice to be in a position like this because with Ball tampering, there is a negative connotation that gets put to it,” du Plessis said ahead of Thursday’s third Test against Australia at Adelaide.

“The term “cheat” has been thrown around. It is not something that I take lightly to. It is not something I want to be associated with in any space.

“I felt I did nothing wrong. I was shining the cricket ball. I have been doing that for my whole career and every single team that I have played in does exactly the same thing.

“It is not something that is frowned upon by anyone, not even the umpires so to make such a big thing, it was a little bit blown out of proportion by everyone.”

It was the second time the past three years he had been charged with the offence.