On this day, India’s most celebrated cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was handed a ban for one Test match. Did you know why? Sachin Tendulkar, the most respected cricketer and ambassador of cricket was accused of tampering ball. The incident had caused outrage in India as the ‘God of Cricket’ integrity was questioned. As the IND vs SA will start soon from 10 December, let us flip pages from the past and see historic rivalry between the two country.
The 2001 IND vs SA Test series was one of the most controversial series where India had refused to play with South Africa if match referee Mike Denness continued as a match referee.
IND vs SA 2001 Test series
On the fifth day of the 2nd Testat Port Elizabeth, Mike Denness banned six Indian players Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Deep Dasgupta, and Shiv Sunder Das for one match accusing them of excessive appealing. But people were in shock when they got to know that Sachin was banned for one Test for ball tampering.
Denness alleged Tendulkar of ball tampering, showing a video where Tendulkar was running his fingers on the seam of the ball. The Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) refused to believe in the accusation and supported Tendulkar.
BCCI refused to play with South Africa
After a protest rampage in India, BCCI threatened South Africa to boycott the third Test of the series if they did not remove Denness as match referee. International Cricket Council (ICC) did not agree to BCCI’s demand but South Africa was okay to play this match without ICC’s supervision. Both teams played a ‘friendly’ match as this match was considered an ‘unofficial’ game.
