When England had resorted to dishonesty to win, the Vaseline scandal had embarrassed the British.

Cricket News Desk. The first match of the five-Test series between India and England is starting from Thursday, January 25. To win this match, both the teams will face each other for five days at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. The England team has come to India to play test matches after the year 2021. In such a situation, England under the captaincy of Ben Stokes knows very well that it is very difficult to defeat the host at home. Although Team India was last defeated by England on home ground in 2012, the situation was different then. It is not easy for any opponent to compete with the current Team India under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.

In such a situation, whichever team comes to play a Test match against India on its home ground, it tries to defeat it at all costs. Sometimes teams go too far in this effort. England had done something similar in the Chennai Test match against India in 1976-77. For the sake of victory, a feeling of insecurity prevailed among the England players. Due to which there was a huge uproar.

This is the reason why whenever the England team comes to India to play a test match, this incident arises in the minds of cricket fans. However, many new cricket fans may know very little about it. In such a situation, let us know what was the Vaseline scandal of the Chennai Test match played between India and England, which put the British to shame.

What was the whole matter?

In the year 1976-77, the England team toured India for a five-Test series. The first match of the series was played in Delhi. Fast bowler John Lever, who made his debut in this match, created a sensation by taking 10 wickets in both the innings. India lost the first test. The second match was played in Kolkata. Here also Team India lost by 10 wickets, but the controversy happened in the third test match.

The third test match was played in Chennai. To remain in the series, Team India had to win this match. England had a chance to win the series. When the Vaseline scandal happened in the third test, the condition of Team India was bad. In fact, on the third day of the third Test, on-field umpire Ruban noticed that a mesh bandage had been placed on John Lever's run-up. When the umpire picked it up and looked at it, he found some sticky substance in it. The umpire called England captain Tony Greig and Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi.

When Tony Greig touched the bandage he said it was Vaseline and clarified that the bowler had applied it on his forehead to prevent sweat from getting into his eyes, but Bishan Singh Bedi accused John Lever of ball tampering. This incident created a stir in the cricket world. In the third Test, England won the match by a margin of 200 runs and also won the series. After the match, the ball was sent to the lab for testing where it was found that both the ball and the net were coated with Vaseline. The England team was quite embarrassed by this entire incident.