- Afridi has a bite:
Shahid Afridi was banned for two matches during the 2009-10 Pakistan tour of Australia after he was spotted on camera biting into the ball during an ODI in Perth. The inexplicably bold act was apparent Afridi’s independent decision, as teammates distanced themselves from the incident.
- Hair halts the match:
Umpire Darrel Hair accused the Pakistan team of ball tampering during a test match at the Oval in 2006. An incensed Pakistan team, led by a furious Inzamam-ul-Haq, refuted the allegations, and refused to take the field in protest against the umpire’s actions. Following a brief discussion, it was decided that Pakistan had effectively forfeited, and the match was awarded to England. Hair’s career as an umpire, already marred by accusations of racism after he repeatedly no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan for chucking, was cut short.
- Tendulkar’s only scandal:
Sachin Tendulkar has been lauded for conducting himself with grace and dignity across his 24-year career. The only disciplinary controversy of note he was ever involved in happened in 2001, during a tour of South Africa. Tendulkar was fined 75 percent of his match fee and suspended for one test after the Mike Denness, the match referee, decided he had tampered with the ball. Tendulkar protested that he was merely cleaning mud off the seam, and not tampering with the ball, but Denness remained unconvinced. The BCCI boycotted the final match and effigies of Denness were burned across India.
- Faf’s gaffe:
The opposite captain in the controversy at the just-concluded Cape Town match, Faf du Plessis has a history of altering the ball of his own. In 2016, during a test match in Hobart, du Plessis was found guilty of altering the condition of the ball, as he was caught by television cameras shining the ball with a mint in his mouth. Despite his proclamation of innocence, he was fined his match fee.
- Atherton’s dirty hands:
Former England captain Michael Atherton was fined 2,000 pound in 1994 after he was caught on television applying a foreign substance onto the ball after putting his hands in his pockets. While he initially said he was drying his hands on a hot day and escaped punishment, he later admitted to his actions, and was duly fined by the English Cricket Board.
