In 2001, Sachin Tendulkar was accused of ball tampering during an India-South Africa Test in Port Elizabeth. It was a huge controversy which divided the cricket world. But the matter was closed when the International Cricket Council (ICC) found the batting leged not guilty as he was just cleaning the ball.
Match referee Mike Denness of England was the man who brought ball tampering charges against Tendulkar and banned him for one match. The batsman himself had written about the incident in his autobiography 'Playing It My Way".
Today (December 7), at the launch of his mobile game - "Sachin Saga Cricket Champions", Tendulkar joked about tampering with the ball as he batted against a few lucky fans.
When one of the bowlers said he would do ball tampering before bowling to him, Tendulkar, with a smile, joked "I have done it". All the people who were around burst into laughter.
Tendulkar would have remembered the day he was accused of "cheating" on the field and hence he chose to now have a chuckle about it.
"I had a very difficult time when referee Mike Denness alleged that I had been involved in ball tampering. I was shocked because I had always played cricket with integrity and honesty and would never do such a thing," he had written in his autobiography.
He added, "None of the umpires had lodged a formal complaint against me and it was humiliating to be labelled a cheat. I wasn't prepared to let it pass. I informed Mike Denness that I would complain about the allegation and would not keep quiet about it.
"I was prepared to abandon the tour if need be but wasn't ready to be labelled a cheat. It was about honour and there was no way I would allow a match referee to cast aspersions on my credibility. Mike Denness's decisions had led to a crisis that had ended up dividing the cricket world down the middle. It was an avoidable incident and one that left everyone bitter in the end."
