Under the Laws of Cricket, 2000 Code -Law 42, clause 3, deals with fair and unfair play, and, more specifically, to the match ball changing its condition.
It says:
(a) Any fielder may
(i) polish the ball provided that no artificial substance is used and that such polishing wastes no time.
(ii) remove mud from the ball under the supervision of the umpire. It was this clause which Sachin violated. He removed mud without the supervision of the umpires.
The law also states:
(b) It is unfair for anyone to rub the ball on the ground for any reason, interfere with any of the seams or the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball, except as permitted in (a) above.
and that...
(c) The umpires shall make frequent and irregular inspections of the ball.
(d) In the event of any fielder changing the condition of the ball unfairly, as set out in (b) above, the umpires after consultation shall
(i) change the ball forthwith. It shall be for the umpires to decide on the replacement ball, which shall, in their opinion, have had wear comparable with that which the previous ball had received immediately prior to the contravention.
(ii) inform the batsmen that the ball has been changed.
(iii) award 5 penalty runs to the batting side. See 17 below.
(iv) inform the captain of the fielding side that the reason for the action was the unfair interference with the ball.
But from a technical point of view, Sachin did violate a law and he should be polite enough to accept his mistakes.
I think BCCI has overreacted in this Case.
BCCI should be ashamed of itself for not solving issues bigger than this, this is nothing compared to Match Fixing issue, which rocked the nation, and still nothing has been done about it.
PS
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I think India is a great Country of Peace Lovers Like Mahatma Gandhi...
If Match-Referee impose penalties and suspensions on 5 players without receiving a complaint
Then We should have played that match with 6 players in the ring.
And Let the world decide who is what?