If the ‘jelly beans’ comments against Zaheer Khan left a bad taste between the two sides in 2007 at this very venue, the charge that Indian batsmen may be using vaseline to escape the eyes of Hotspot has all the signs of turning into another major controversy.
The incident in question arose on the second day of the second Test when English players were left unconvinced after Hotspot didn’t show the white spot on VVS Laxman’s bat off the bowling of James Anderson. However, the Sky TV snicko, which is not part of the Decision Review System, confirmed a nick through to the wicket-keeper. Former England captain Michael Vaughan then stirred the hornet’s nest. “Has Vaseline on the outside edge saved the day for Laxman?” tweeted Vaughan, who is working for Test Match Special on BBC.
It’s ironical that England must invoke the ‘vaseline’ term. In 1976-77, then Indian skipper Bishan Singh Bedi accused England left-arm paceman John Lever of using vaseline to unfairly shine the cricket ball and procure swing on their tour of India. England pacemen Lever and Bob Willis did use vaseline to keep the sweat away from their eyes, but it was never proved that Lever used vaseline intentionally to tamper with the ball.
The Laxman incident happened when the veteran batsman was on 27. The bowler and the slip cordon appealed spontaneously when Anderson went past his outside edge.
There was a definite sound but umpire Asad Rauf wasn’t convinced and Laxman was shaking his head, indicating he didn’t nick it. Skipper Andrew Strauss immediately went for review. The Hotspot camera, however, didn't show any white mark on the bat to make Rauf change his decision. Kevin Pietersen even engaged the normally placid Laxman in a verbal spat following England’s failed challenge.
England paceman Stuart Broad, echoing his team’s sentiments, said they were beginning to have reservations about Hotspot technology. “All of our players thought that was quite a clear edge and Hotspot hasn't really shown up the faint edges, which is a bit of a flaw I think,” Broad said on Sunday, when asked about the argument between Laxman and Pietersen.
“There was a question of what it hit and the answer wasn’t what KP thought it was,” he added, saying he didn’t think Laxman had used anything on his bat. “I actually had a cheeky feel of his edge when the ball went past, but there’s no Vaseline or anything on there. I think it’s just Hotspot, we've found that the really faint edges don’t show up. It’s just one of those things,” he maintained.
Incidentally, Hotspot technology was one of the major components India insisted should be a part of the DRS, which doesn’t allow lbw decisions to be reviewed in this series.