Waqar Younis Ball Tampering — Sri Lanka 2000

During a one-day tri-series match in Sri Lanka, Pakistan's Waqar Younis was caught by television cameras scratching the surface of the cricket ball. Match referee John Reid found Waqar guilty of ball tampering and fined him 50% of his match fee, also giving him a one-match suspended ban.

Waqar was known throughout his career for his devastating reverse swing, and the incident raised questions about how much of that reverse swing had been generated through artificial means. Waqar denied any wrongdoing, claiming he was merely cleaning the ball, but the camera footage was damning.

The incident was part of a broader pattern of ball-tampering controversies in cricket. Pakistan had previously faced allegations of ball tampering, and Waqar's charge added fuel to those accusations. The penalty was relatively light, leading to calls for stricter punishments for ball tampering — calls that would eventually be vindicated when the Sandpapergate scandal in 2018 led to heavy bans for the Australian players involved.