Reacting to Imran Khan’s confession on ball-tampering in tis forthcoming authorized biography. former Indian Test cricketers interviewed by The Statesman have expressed surprise at the statement. Some tire of the opinion that it was good that he finally admitted it, while others feel that it’s ¢ gimmick 10 sell the book, in which he is supposed to have admitted to occasionally lifting the seam and scratching one side of the ball at least in one county match in 1981.
“If he (Imran) is admitting it, he would have done it,” said Mohinder Amarnath over the telephone from his Bombay flat. “It may also have been done to sell the book.” About the 1982 series, Mohinder said that all Pakistani medium pacers, “even Mudassar Nazar”, swung the ball prodigiously.
“We were surprised as to how they swung the old ball and that too after every interval. Be ita drinks or tea break,” he recalled, But, he says, he never actually Saw them doing it nor did he or the Indian team management ever ‘complain to the umpires.
“Blatant cheating’ on part of Imran, is how former opener Chetan Chauhan put it, “There ‘was not much of ball-tampering when the Test series between the two Countries resumed in 1978.” he said. “Lifting of the seam is done by most of the bowlers, and it’s not dangerous. It’s unfair but T would not call it cheating. But when it is scratched’ on one side and the shine is maintained on the other, it becomes a serious matter.”
Had Imran admitted it during his playing days, “he would have been penalized and all would have been affected” he felt. “By admitting it now; he has saved his Skin, its blatant selfishness: it will unnecessarily affect Waqar Yunus and Wasim Akram. i” Said former Indian Test captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi: “Maybe, he wants to sell his book. But only may be. If they (the Pakistan bowlers) have been doing that; then they have been cheating”. Otherwise, he said, he bad no comments to make on the issue.
“I do not think so,” was Bishen Singh Bedi’s reply when asked if there was any truth in Imran’s statement, “Advertently or inadvertently he has made the statement. But in modem day cricket anything is possible,” Bedi, who led India in the 1978 series in Pakistan, however, found nothing illegitimate when the Pakistan bowlers operated in that series, “He (Imran) was not as good a bowler at that time as in later years).
Former all-rounder Kirti Azad was happy that Imran had admitted tampering with the ball. “I’m happy that he has honestly accepted his dishonesty,” he said, adding, “But this puts doubts on his credibility.as a bowler”, Kirti Said he was always surprised at how Imran could swing the ball, especially in the hot, dry climate of Sharjah. “It’s creditable that he has accepted it.”
Former India wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna, who played against Imran in one-day internationals, said that there “could” be some truth in the statement. Khanna thinks that the ball tampering was going on for ages, ever since cricket started. “But how can you catch a bowler,” he asks. “You cannot record it on film all the time.”
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
