NEWS
GROUNDS
COLUMNS
MATCH REPORTS
INTERVIEWS
ENEMY CAMP
GALLERY
SCHEDULE
FORUM

Ball tampering accusation shocks Indians

"This series has been played out in very good spirit so far, I hope it continues," said match referee Cammie Smith after a stormy session in which he was asked to rule on four different counts of infringement of the ICC code of conduct by the Indians, at the end of the India versus Pakistan ODI at Adelaide on the 25th.

Judging by the evidence, that optimism appears misplaced -- it is pretty obvious that relations between the Indian and Pakistan teams, now engaged in the CUB triseries in Australia, have deteriorated alarmingly.

Cammie Smith was called in to adjudicate on the following four counts:

1) Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad was accused of calling Azhar Mahmood a 'nasty nine'. Cammie Smith dismissed the charge for lack of sufficient evidence.

2) Venkatesh Prasad swore at Yousuf Youhanna -- again, dismissed for lack of evidence.

3) Sachin Tendulkar accused by Abdur Razzaq of tampering with the ball in the 39th over. The two officiating umpires were called in by Cammie Smith. Both umpires said they had no problems with the ball at any stage of the match, and that there was no evidence of any tampering. Cammie Smith dismissed the charge as 'frivolous' -- Razzaq, however, was not warned for bringing a serious accusation of this nature without any evidence in support.

4) Debashish Mohanty was accused of standing outside the 30-yard circle at a point when the field regulations indicated he should be within the circle. Cammie Smith warned the player concerned to be more careful in future.

Which, you would think, is where it would end. The Indians, however, seemed furious at the charges, and hit back with strong comments from coach Kapil Dev Nikanj.

``I am shocked,'' said Kapil. "We have never, ever, tampered with the ball and to accuse a guy like Tendulkar of doing it is absolutely ridiculous. It just goes to show to what extent teams go to find excuses for their defeat.''

Equally, what appears to have rattled the Indians is the accusation of foul language. "If this is how people want to play the game, then so be it," Kapil said, indicating that the Indian players had been given instructions to stop the game at any point, here on in, when they were abused and to immediately bring the incident to the notice of the on field umpires.

``Are we the only guilty party?'' Dev demanded.

The statement comes loaded with buckshot. In the same game, Shoaib Akthar, not taking kindly to being carved for 34 runs in his first five overs, repeatedly mouthed words to Tendulkar. Finally, at one point, >the Indian captain -- not one with a reputation of responding to on-field incidents of this nature -- was finally pushed to turn around and ask, loudly, "What is your problem?"

The Indians did not report the incident after the game. Which is why it came as a considerable surprise to learn that the Pakistanis had reported Prasad for bad language.

"From here on, we will play the game the way they want," Kapil Dev promised. "Our players have been told what to do."

It is a situation -- and a response from the Indians -- that doesn't quite jell with Cammie Smith's fervent hope that what remains of this series will be played out in good spirit.