Tanmay Bhat and 5 others who angered Sachin Tendulkar's fans

#2 Mike Denness

After accusing Tendulkar of ball tampering, Denness surely didn’t get to have the last laugh

The Scotland born Mike Denness had a 28 match Test career and led his side in 12 of them. And although his unpopularity among his team mates created quite a news, none of it compared to the buzz he generated when, as a match referee, he alleged that Sachin Tendulkar had tampered with the seam of the ball in the second test between India and South Africa held at Port Elizabeth in 2001-02.

But the fans of the Mumbaikar could not digest the allegation of ‘cheating’ on their god and the Indian masses smelled racism behind the actions of Denness, who had also handed out suspension to captain Sourav Ganguly. The star batsman received the backing of his board as BCCI insisted that Denness be removed if South Africa wanted India to play the final Test. Back home, Indian fans were doing what they do best in such controversies, burning effigies of Denness. While Sachin came out unscathed from the incident, Denness was not reappointed by the ICC as a Match Referee.