20th August, 2006: When Inzamam-Ul-Haq-Led Pakistan Forfeited The Oval Test Over Ball-Tampering Claims

It was just another Test match day at the Oval in 2006. England were playing Pakistan in the fourth and final Test and a quick look at the scorecard showed Inzamam ul Haq and his men were bossing the Poms with a day to spare. England had begun day four at 78 for 1, still trailing Pakistan by 253 runs. For the first time in the series, Pakistan had sensed an opening. It was their game to lose.

Pakistan did lose that match. Forfeited to be precise.

But before we move ahead, here is a quick trivia.

Over last 140 years, 2300 Test matches have been played. Two have been tied. And only one has ended in a forfeit. Yes, just one! That day as England continued to close the first-inning deficit, little did they know that an unlikely win was coming their way. An hour before tea at the end of the 56th over, umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove asked for a change of ball. The umpires claimed that Pakistan had tampered with the ball and quickly awarded five penalty runs to England.

Everything seemed fine and the play resumed, until the Tea was taken. It became clear eventually that Pakistan felt wronged by the decision and were in no mood to play. The visitors would refuse to walk out even as the English batsmen made their way onto the middle after Tea.

After 20 minutes, umpires went to Pakistan dressing room and soon realized that skipper Inzamam is in no mood to relent. There was no evidence for ball tampering and the captain was furious. So, Hair came back to the ground and took the bails off, leaving the spectators baffled. A decision was made. England were awarded the game.

Pakistan eventually walked out after an hour. However, this time umpires were in no mood to relent. The decision had been made. Victory to England, series 3-0 to England.

What happened in the aftermath:

ICC would drop the ball-tampering charge for the lack of evidence but Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was banned for the subsequent ODI series for refusing to lead his team out. Australian umpire Darrell Hair was removed from international duty and he in turn threatened to sue ICC and PCB on the basis of racial discrimination.

Two years later, ICC overturned the decision from a Pakistan loss to a draw. But it amounted to little.