Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar also had his fair share of controversies to deal with his 24-year career.
2000: Fixing scandal
During the 2000 South Africa tour of India, cricket took a backseat as the issue of match-fixing arose with many top cricketers including Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Hansie Cronje were engulfed in the dark waters of crime. Sachin was the skipper back then and refused to speak over the issue. Tendulkar continued to remain silent and later on, stood down as Indian captain.
2001: Ball Tampering issue
India toured South Africa in 2001 and when all was going well, in the 2nd Test at Port Elizabeth, then match referee Mike Deness accused Sachin of ball-tampering and slapped a ban on him. This resulted in a major backlash back home in India as BCCI threatened to pull out of the tour midway.
2003: Ferrari issue
Former F1 world champion Michael Schumacher gifted Sachin Tendulkar a Ferrari-360 Modeno on which Sachin sought an exemption on the 120% import duty. The 1.12 crore was waived off but the Delhi High Court served notices to Sachin and Union Finance and the Sports Ministry of India.
2007: Greg Chappell saga
Aussie Greg Chappell had his fair share of issues with the Indian batting legends including Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and also Sachin Tendulkar. Chappell questioned the seniors in the Indian side and their passion to game. These comments didn’t go down well with Tendulkar and was ‘hurt’ that someone had the audacity to question his commitment.
2004: Multan Test
During the Multan Test, even though it was Virender Sehwag who scored a triple ton then, Sachin was batting on 194 when then skipper Rahul Dravid decided to declare the innings. Reports arose that Dravid’s surprise declaration didn’t go down well with Tendulkar who was saddened by the topic. Rahul later went on to say that the two players had buried the hatchet that day in the dressing room itself.
2008: Monkeygate
During the 2008 Sydney Test, opposite partner Harbhajan Singh was involved in a verbal altercation with Aussie Andrew Symonds that resulted in tempers flaring from both sides. Reportedly, Harbhajan called Symonds a ‘monkey’ and was a very big issue then. Sachin stood however by Harbhajan’s side and claimed not guilty. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist slammed Tendulkar in their books terming that the latter had changed his opinion.
