Sachin Tendulkar and ball tampering? That's a bit like a priest being caught in a house of ill repute. No doubt there will be a chorus of protest in India about this sacrilegious allegation. What is important is that we view this incident with the right perspective. Altering the condition of the ball is one of the grayest areas in cricket. Sadly, the media and public generally see things only in black and white. Therefore, you're bound to see a pitched battle in the following days between the Tendulkar apologists and those paragons of virtue that seek to paint him in devilish colours.

The footage that has been shown - including a couple of close-ups - just seemed to indicate a player cleaning the seam of the cricket ball. That doesn't say much. Anyone who has played cricket could tell you that dirt can get stuck in the seam, especially once the ball has been whacked around a fair bit. It's common practice in such a situation to remove the dirt with your nails.

It's a small step from the mundane to the controversial though. If the pictures show Tendulkar trying to lift the seam with his nails or gouge it slightly, then he could be in trouble. The victorious Pakistan tour of England in 1992 was riddled with controversy - Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis under the spotlight for their ability to get the ball to reverse swing alarmingly. Sarfraz Nawaz - whose utterances you need to take with a pan of salt - chipped in with stories of bottle caps and gouging. Two years later, Michael Atherton's attempt to carry a small patch of flowerbed inside his pocket at Lord's in 1994 was also widely condemned. Imran Khan was one of the few men to come clean about ball tampering. In his view, bowlers were entitled to exploit any chink they could find, in a sport that became more and more batsmen-dominated by the day. If that meant scuffing up one side of the ball - and shining the other - in order to get it to "reverse", then so be it.

There is every chance that Tendulkar was trying to clean the seam with his nails. It's also equally plausible that he was giving the stitching a small alteration with a view to giving Srinath and Agarkar - and perhaps himself - some additional advantage. What we need to look at is the seriousness of the crime. Anyone who has ever bowled with an old ball on a decent pitch will tell you that it's a thankless task. Fielders, whether they are on a maidan in Mumbai or an expanse of green in Mackay, will do their best to keep the ball in shape for their bowlers. Usually, they will shine the one side and make sure that the ball is dirt-free. A bit like the batsmen coming down the pitch to pat it and do some gardening. It's a batsmen's game and Tendulkar - more than anyone else - knows that. As long as he wasn't using a Swiss Army knife or a bottle cap, I don't see what the fuss is about. A bit like shirt-pulling in football really. No one likes it, but almost everybody does it. So why the sanctimonious outcry?

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor, Wisden.com India.

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