On this day in 2006, Inzamam-Ul-Haq led his team off the field after being accused of ball tampering. It was the fourth and final Test of the series between Pakistan and England. With a day to go in the Test, the visiting side had a lead of 253 runs at the Oval. Everything seemed to be going well till the end of the tea break. In the 56th over of the match, the umpires asked for a change of ball.
It was being claimed that Pakistan had tampered the ball. Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove allotted five penalty runs for the home side. Pakistan and England continued the play and the tea break was taken. As the home side returned to the pavilion, Pakistani players stayed in the ground. They seemed to be upset by the decision of the umpires.
After the tea break, the umpires went to the dressing room of Pakistan. But Inzamam-Ul-Haq and co were not ready to resume the play. As there was no evidence for ball tampering, Inzamam was unhappy with the decision of the umpires. Hair and Billy had no option but to remove the bails signaling England’s win. The spectators were confused about what transpired in the middle.
England was awarded with a win. Pakistan protested the decision for about an hour before they left the ground. The umpires did not care about it and the result remained intact. England beat Pakistan 3-0 to win the series. After the match, the ICC gave its report about ball tampering. Due to a lack of proof, the charge on the ball tampering was removed. However, Inzamam had to pay the price.
For refusing to resume the play, the Pakistan skipper was banned from playing the following ODI series. Darrell was suspended from his job at the international level. The Australian happened to threaten PCB and ICC with allegations of racing. Two years after the incident, Pakistan’s loss was changed to a draw. But it had no impact on the eventual result of the series. To date, it was the only forfeited match in the history of Test Cricket.
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