Sachin Tendulkar will forever be known as the 'God of cricket' and is the epitome of a cricketer who could do no wrong. He is arguably the most respected former cricketer of this country and no matter which generation of the family you belong to, if you watch cricket, you have to be a Tendulkar fan. 

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Imagine waking up one morning and reading in the newspapers that Sachin Tendulkar has been accused of ball-tampering. During a Test match between India and South Africa in 2001, match referee Mike Denness accused Sachin Tendulkar of ball tampering when the Indian cricketer could be seen working on the seam was in the film captured by the cameraman. Upon further inspection, it was found that Tendulkar was simply cleaning the seam. The only mistake Tendulkar committed was to not inform the umpires before doing so. 

Tendulkar was fined 75% of his match fee and was even suspended for one Test.

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During a 2004 Test match between India and Pakistan in Multan, Sachin Tendulkar was in form and batting at 194* on Day 2. He was slowly working his way towards a double century and thought he had another over to achieve the feat. However Rahul Dravid, who was the captain at the point, declared Indiaâs innings, without letting his teammate reach the 200-run mark.

In his autobiography â Playing It My Wayâ, the cricketer wrote about his angst with Dravidâs decision. 

âI assured Rahul that the incident would have no bearing on my involvement on the field, but off the field, I would prefer to be left alone for a while to come to terms with what had happened,â Tendulkar writes in the book.

While many understood Sachinâs frustration, others called this behaviour unsportsmanlike and felt that he was being selfish and not keeping his team first.

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Probably the biggest controversy that surrounded the Indian legend and got him a lot of hate, especially from Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. When Harbhajan Singh allegedly racially abused Andrew Symonds during a 2008 Test, in the initial days, Tendulkar took a neutral path and said that he didnât hear anything. However, eventually he changed his statement. Now he said that he heard Singh and Symonds having a heated discussion and that Harbhajan said âteri ma kiâ, and not âmonkeyâ.

Ponting, in his autobiography, At The Close Of Play, wrote: âI couldnât understand why Sachin didnât tell this to (match referee) Mike Procter in the first place.â

Adam Gilchrist, in his book âTrue Colours: My Lifeâ wrote: âTendulkar, whoâd said at the first hearing that he hadnât been able to hear what Harbhajan had said â and he was a fair way away, up the other end, so Iâm certain he was telling the truth â now supported Harbhajanâs version that he hadnât called Symo a âmonkeyâ, but instead a Hindi term of abuse that might sound like âmonkeyâ to Australian ears."

âThe Indians got him off the hook when they, of all people, should have been treating the matter of racial vilification with the utmost seriousness,â Gilchrist had written.

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